WUNRN
SRI LANKA - HIGH INTERNAL
DISPLACEMENT FROM CONFLICT
CRISIS OF DISPLACEMENT FOR WOMEN
& CHILDREN IN SRI LANKA
_________________________________________________________________
UNIFEM - http://www.womenwarpeace.org/node/3
Internally Displaced Women &
Children
The
often cited statistic that as many as 80 per cent of displaced populations are
women and children fails to convey the complete devastation that displacement
visits upon women and communities. Leaving homes, property and community behind
renders women vulnerable to violence, disease and food scarcity, whether they
flee willingly or unwillingly. Internally displaced women face additional
dangers as they are often invisible to the international community within
the context of violent conflict.
_____________________________________________________________
ICRC - International Committee of
the Red Cross
15-01-2009
SRI
LANKA
Massive
displacement of Sri Lanka civilians amid escalating conflict.
Ever
more civilians have been leaving areas held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam (LTTE) and entering government-controlled territory in recent weeks.
The ICRC has been helping them to maintain acceptable levels of hygiene, to
keep in touch with relatives and to maintain hope.
Fighting has prevented relief supplies from reaching the population in the
Vanni for the past five days. "Civilians in the Vanni are weary from the
conflict. Repeated displacements, often involving the loss of their personal
belongings, have taken a toll on them. Nevertheless, their ability to cope has
been remarkable," said Paul Castella, the ICRC's head of delegation.
"The ICRC is committed to stay at their side as long as there are needs to
address"
Because of ongoing combat operations and the moving front line, tens of
thousands of displaced civilians are concentrated in an area so small that
there are serious concerns for their physical safety and living conditions, in
particular in terms of hygiene. In addition, the ICRC has to negotiate safe
passage over a distance of up to 30 kilometres between government- and
LTTE-held areas with the parties every day (between 2002, when the ceasefire
was signed, and November 2008, guarantees of safe passage were needed only for
travel on a 300-metre stretch of road). The new situation has made it necessary
for the ICRC to bring in more international and national staff to manage the
convoys and communicate with the parties on the ground.
The ICRC also negotiates with the parties to the conflict to arrange for the
safe passage of ambulances transferring patients and health professionals back
and forth between the various medical facilities in LTTE-held areas and
Vavuniya. However, the ICRC is extremely concerned by the fact that no safe
passage has been arranged since 9 January. This has put at risk the lives of
patients who cannot receive suitable treatment on the spot and therefore need
to be transferred to Vavuniya Hospital, in government-controlled territory.
A major concern of the ICRC is to ensure that civilians, the sick and wounded
and medical personnel receive the protection to which they are entitled under
international humanitarian law. The organization has reminded the parties to
the conflict repeatedly – in recent days especially – of their obligation to
protect persons not taking part in the hostilities.
ICRC maintains its support for displaced people in the Vanni
In the districts of Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi, more and more civilians
abandoned their homes and shelters and fled combat areas in December.
Unfortunately, there is almost no area left in that part of the country where
people can be safe from the ongoing hostilities. "Families heading
westward in search of safety are encountering other families moving eastward
with the same aim," said Mr Castella.
Heavy rains that fell on the Vanni in December damaged shelters and roads and
destroyed millions of rupees' worth of food crops, thus posing further
challenges for the displaced population.
Existing health-care facilities are managing to cope with the basic health
needs of the civilian population despite a lack of personnel and other
constraints.
The ICRC has distributed personal-hygiene and baby-care items to more than 750
displaced people and built toilets and bathing facilities. In addition, it has
monitored conditions in centres for the displaced set up by the authorities in
Jaffna and Vavuniya. It has listened to the concerns of those living in the
centres and where necessary helped them to restore contact with their relatives
by means of Red Cross messages.
In an attempt to stave off mosquito-transmitted disease among displaced people,
the ICRC distributed some 350 baby mosquito nets.
Working together with volunteers from the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, the ICRC
provided some 3,600 displaced individuals in Puthukudyirippu with shelter and
other essential items. The ICRC also repaired wells and built toilets for the
displaced population in Oddussudan, Kandavalai and Puthukudyirippu. In
addition, it gave over 1,100 displaced people in these areas tents and
tarpaulins for use in erecting emergency and temporary shelters.
In December, a total of 60,056 families in Kandawalai, Karachchi Maruthankerny
and Puthukudyirippu received food, clothing and hygiene items donated to the
ICRC in November by the Indian government for the conflict-affected population
of the Vanni.
ICRC serving as neutral intermediary between government and LTTE
In its role as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC facilitated the movement of
civilians, sick and wounded people, food and other relief items, and Sri Lanka
Red Cross members and various officials across the front line throughout most
of last year. In 2008 the ICRC helped more than 273,000 civilians and 32,000
vehicles to make the crossing.
In December, the conflict continued to disrupt the movement of civilians, civilian
vehicles, ambulances and humanitarian aid convoys across the no man's land
between government- and LTTE-held areas. During the month, the ICRC facilitated
the passage into the Vanni of 199 ambulances carrying 505 patients and of
nearly 1,190 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid. ICRC staff also transported
the bodies of 204 fallen fighters across the front line.
Protecting civilians and people held in connection with the conflict
The ICRC continues to monitor possible violations of international humanitarian
law affecting civilians throughout the country. When necessary, it makes
representations to the authorities concerning missing persons, arbitrary
arrests, under-age recruitment, unlawful killings and ill-treatment of
civilians or detainees by weapon bearers. Allegations of violations are
discussed confidentially with the parties to the conflict.
With the cooperation of government officials and the LTTE, the ICRC has been
visiting a growing number of people arrested in connection with the armed
conflict to monitor their treatment and conditions of detention. In December,
ICRC delegates held private talks with more than 900 security detainees in some
50 government places of detention throughout the country and provided them with
clothes, toiletries and recreational items. The ICRC covered the travel costs
of six detainees returning home on public transport after being released, and
of the families of over 465 detainees visiting their detained relatives.
_____________________________________________________________
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090116/wl_nm/us_srilanka_war_1
Refugee Stream from
Sri Lanka's War Zone Picks Up
By
C. Bryson Hull C. Bryson Hull – Jan 16,
2009
Reuters – A
Sri Lankan soldier stands guard in a transit camp for internally displaced
ethnic minority Tamils in …
COLOMBO (Reuters) -- Increasing numbers of refugees are fleeing Sri Lanka's war zone, which is rapidly shrinking as the military bears down on the Tamil Tiger rebels' last remaining territory, the military and the Red Cross said on Friday.
And the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the only international aid agency still allowed a permanent presence in the war zone, said tens of thousands were concentrated in an area so small there was no place safe for them.
"Families heading westward in search of safety are encountering other families moving eastward with the same aim," ICRC's Sri Lanka delegation head Paul Castella said.
The 25-year-old war, one of Asia's longest-running, is fast reaching what may be a decisive end, with military units surging across the jungle in the northeast of the Indian Ocean island to strike the Tigers' last stronghold in the port of Mullaittivu.
There has been no negotiation of safe passage between the army and Tigers in a week, which has put at risk the lives of patients who cannot receive proper treatment in rebel-held areas and need to go to a hospital in army territory, the ICRC said.
It did not say what type of treatment the patients needed and if they had
been hurt in the fighting.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said he has ordered the military to avoid all civilian casualties.
The pro-Tiger website www.TamilNet.com in the past week has said civilians are increasingly being killed and wounded. The Tigers in the past have publicized civilian casualties to create external pressure on the government to enter a ceasefire.
Rights groups have accused the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) of forcing Tamil civilians to stay in the war zone to be conscripts or laborers. The LTTE denies that.
U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes called on the LTTE to allow civilians to move freely to areas they feel most secure. In a statement, he also called for civilians to be protected from the fighting and to continue to have access to basic assistance.
Holmes said civilians were increasingly susceptible to harm due to fighting, while the conditions of their shelter, water and sanitation were increasingly inadequate.
The military on Friday said that more than 1,000 civilians had fled to the military-controlled areas on Thursday, bringing the total this week to over 2,000. Aid groups say about 230,000 are trapped in the conflict area.
Also on Friday, the military said it had captured a sixth air strip used by the LTTE's small air fleet, near Iranamadu, a day after it found a larger one with an abandoned hangar nearby.
Iranamadu is east of the Kilinochchi town, which the military seized on
January 2 and in doing so struck a major blow against the LTTE's separatist
plans -- it had declared Kilinochchi as its capital of the state it wants
to create for Sri Lankan Tamils.
The Wall Street Journal in an editorial on Friday said Rajapaksa had chosen the right strategy to fight the LTTE.
"For all those who argue that there is no military solution for
terrorism, we have two words: Sri Lanka," the paper wrote.
The Tigers are on U.S., E.U. and Indian terrorism lists after carrying out hundreds of assassinations and suicide bombings, including against Tamils who challenged them.
The LTTE say they are fighting to address mistreatment of minority Tamils since the Sinhalese ethnic majority took over at independence from Britain in 1948. But many Sinhalese say Tamils enjoyed unfair advantages in colonial times and want them back.
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