When Sri Lankan forces broke through Tamil Tiger lines two months ago and defeated the independence-seeking guerrillas, thousands of traumatized Tamils were grateful just to be alive. Trapped by the Tigers in a tiny coastal strip, and besieged by the Sri Lankan military, they had nowhere to run as bullets flew. The Sri Lankan government called the crushing of the Tigers a humanitarian rescue mission.

But after the defeat of one of the biggest obstacles to peace, the government may be creating new ones. Confined in camps with minimal aid and services and no certain date of discharge, some 300,000 Tamils are vulnerable to increasing alienation from Sri Lankan society – as well as violence and disease. While understandable, the Sri Lankan government's determination to weed out militants masquerading as displaced civilians has made it more difficult for innocent Tamils to return to normal life.

Among the Tamils are at least four Canadians with dual citizenship, as well as citizens of other Western countries. Canada has been trying, with limited success, to visit its nationals at the isolated camps, where media and human rights groups are barred.

The government has made it clear that it rules out a separate Tamil state and insists that Sri Lanka – with a mainly Sinhalese population and an 18 per cent Tamil minority – is a united country with citizenship for all. But it has made few efforts to end discriminatory laws that fuelled the Tigers' cause. Nor has it clarified the status of the camp-bound survivors, some of whom believe they are being subjected to collective punishment and fear their confinement will become long term.

In May, Sri Lanka pledged to resettle the majority of the internees within 180 days, a deadline President Mahinda Rajapaksa says is not a "promise" but a "target." He points out that removal of landmines and restoration of basic services must first be done to ensure the survivors' safe return and resettlement. But in camps where food and medicine are in short supply, and line-ups for water often measured in hours, bitterness is growing, and reconciliation has not begun. Will the government that won the war risk losing the peace?