ASIA/SRI LANKA - Humanitarian emergency for refugees

Colombo (Agenzia Fides) – There is a real humanitarian emergency for the Tamil civilians living in the northeastern part of Sri Lanka, trying to escape the conflict taking place between the army and rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This is what the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other NGOs have affirmed. These organizations are currently trying to meet the needs of over 150,000 civilians from the areas of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu who are now in government-controlled zones.
The great exodus has begun: right now, over 13,000 refugees are in the area of Vavuniya, the base for humanitarian agencies in the North and in Jaffna and in Mannar, in the northwestern part of the country. The UNHCR expects another 5,000 people to enter Vavuniya in the next few days and has elaborated a strategy for providing protection and first aid for the new arrivals.
In the meantime, the UN aid workers are carrying out a daily work of assistance in areas for the internally displaced persons and in the areas they travel through, in collaboration with the Sri Lankan government.
The UNHCR has asked the government throughout the country to respect the basic international humanitarian standards established and the government has expressed its intention to do so. They are also asking authorities to allow other NGOs to enter the refugees camp and take part in coordination of the camp for facilitating aid distribution.
Now that the Sri Lankan army has taken control of the greater part of the province that had been under LTTE control – reducing the guerrillas' area to 300 km sq of jungle – aid has been able to begin reaching the refugees. A large part of the aid activity is taking place in the District of Vavuniya, where over 10,200 internal refugees to whom emergency aid is distributed. The same operation is done for those in Mannar and Jaffna. There are new groups of refugees expected to enter and thus, personnel and resources will need to multiply.
In the meantime, innocent civilians in the areas of high population density, in the so-called “safe zone” continue to be at risk. The “safe zone” has not been mutually consented to and does not correspond to any of the necessary international requirements. This situation has led to violations from both sides, which have placed civilian lives at risk. “Unless there is respect for international humanitarian laws from both sides, the bloodshed will not end,” the UN warns. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 12/2/2009)