Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - Proscription As A Terrorist Group

Proscription As A Terrorist Group

32 countries have listed the LTTE as a terrorist organization. As of January 2009, these include:

• India (since 1992)
• United States (designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by the Department of State since 8 October 1997. Named as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) since 2 November 2001)
• United Kingdom (designated as Proscribed Terrorist Group under the Terrorism Act 2000 by the Home Secretary since 2000)
• European Union (since 2006; 27 countries)
• Canada (since 2006) Canada does not grant residency to LTTE members on the grounds that they have participated in crimes against humanity.
• Sri Lanka (from January 1998 to 4 September 2002, and again from 7 January 2009)

The first country to ban the LTTE was its former ally, India. The Indian change of policy came gradually, starting with the IPKF-LTTE conflict, and culminating with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. India opposes the new state Tamil Eelam that LTTE wants to establish, saying that it would lead to Tamil Nadu's separation from India though the leaders of Tamil Nadu are opposing it. Sri Lanka itself lifted the ban on the LTTE before signing the ceasefire agreement in 2002. This was a prerequisite set by the LTTE for the signing of the agreement. Indian Government extended the ban on LTTE considering their strong anti-India posture and threat to the security to Indian nationals.

The European Union banned LTTE as a terrorist organization on 17 May 2006. In a statement, the European Parliament said that the LTTE did not represent all the Tamils and called on it to "allow for political pluralism and alternate democratic voices in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka".