Crisis in camps as Sri Lanka blocks aid

Emergency supplies for 300,000 people displaced by the Sri Lankan army’s victory over the Tamil Tigers have been stopped after the Government blocked access to aid camps. Fears have been growing over the welfare of those forced to flee the conflict zone – many of whom are sick or injured – after tight restrictions were placed on the United Nations and other agencies trying to give aid. Urgently needed supplies of food and clothing had been suspended after access to the camps was restricted by the Government, a spokesperson for The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told The Times newspaper.

Until now, the ICRC was the only neutral aid organisation allowed inside the conflict zone in the north-eastern region where the Tigers made their last stand over the weekend. But it hasn’t heard from its 25 staff there since last week. Blocking access to the battle zone has raised fears for the fate of those civilians too sick or injured to flee the area by foot. Accounts of conditions inside the camps — gained from aid workers — and the journey to them are horrifying. There are also fears that contagious diseases will hit the camp populations —especially children —. Chickenpox, hepatitis A and dysentery outbreaks have been reported. Medical facilities are said to be woefully inadequate.

Government officials have refused to comment. Access for aid agencies to another 200,000 refugees already in the internment camps — which the Government call “welfare villages” — has been severely restricted since Sunday, preventing the administration of basic care.“These people have endured one of the cruellest military sieges of modern times — daily shelling over several months,” an international aid worker said. “They need urgent help.” Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, is due to travel in Sri Lanka on Friday to offer help to rebuild the ravaged north east of the country and urge the Government to reach out to the Tamil population.

Most Sri Lankans are delighted by the defeat of the Tigers, a terrorist force that fought for 26 years for an independent Tamil homeland, propagating a war that left at least 70,000 dead. Many Tamils were against the rebels after they recruited child soldiers and terrorised their own people. One health official claimed that as many as 15,000 people – including 2,000 children – had been killed in the last three months of fighting. The official told the Guardian newspaper he and his wife and two children, aged one and three, had been running from artillery fire for the last nine months, and had been displaced 13 times.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children