Sri Lanka once again rejected international calls for a ceasefire in their several decade long war against Tamil separatists yesterday, declaring that the fighting would only stop when the rebels lay down their arms.

But as the war rages on, the Sri Lankan military has pushed the separatists into an ever-shrinking corner. At this point they control less than 50 square kms, a tiny patch of land filled with as many as 200,000 trapped civilians in deteriorating conditions.

Yet while a military victory seems inevitable, the harsh treatment of Tamil civilians and a growing number of refugees facing open-ended detention in grim “resettlement camps” seem to be setting the stage for more resentment and separatist sentiment in the years to come.