FEARS OF SRI LANKA ‘CATASTROPHE’
COMMENTARY ARCHIVES, 15 May 2009
The Red Cross says its staff in Sri Lanka are witnessing an "unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe" in the area where troops have trapped Tamil Tigers.
The agency says a ferry loaded with aid has been unable to reach the battered north-eastern coastal strip for three days because of fighting.
The Sri Lankan army earlier said that more than 2,000 civilians had waded across a lagoon to escape to safety.
There are also reports that staff have quit the last hospital in the war zone.
Medics abandoned the hospital after persistent shelling over recent days, unverified reports say.
As the humanitarian situation worsened, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, was being rushed back to Sri Lanka to press for the protection of trapped civilians, a UN spokeswoman said.
In another development on Thursday, former colonial power Britain said the Sri Lankan government could face investigation into possible war crimes, as a result of violence against civilians caught up in the fighting.
The UN says about 50,000 civilians are trapped in the war zone, although Colombo disputes this figure.
The government has rejected international calls to stop its offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels, saying it would give them time to recover. Now that it has trapped the Tamil Tigers, it hopes to soon end the 25-year-old civil war.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its chartered ferry, the Green Ocean, had been unable to deliver aid or evacuate the wounded for three days.
"Our staff are witnessing an unimaginable humanitarian catastrophe," said ICRC director of operations Pierre Krahenbuhl, based in Geneva.
"Despite high-level assurances, the lack of security on the ground means that our sea operations continue to be stalled, and this is unacceptable," he said.
"No humanitarian organisation can help them in the current circumstances. People are left to their own devices."
The ICRC says it requires security and unimpeded access to the area immediately in order to save hundreds of lives.
In a statement, it said another aid ship, from the World Food Programme, was also waiting to deliver supplies to the war zone.
Hospital Abandoned
The BBC’s Charles Haviland, in Sri Lanka, says there are also unverified reports that medical staff have abandoned the main hospital in the rebel-held area because of persistent shelling.
One report, quoting an unnamed health official, said that about 400 badly wounded patients had been left behind, along with more than 100 bodies awaiting burial.
Dozens of civilians have been reported killed in artillery attacks on the facility in recent days.
A military spokesman told the BBC that unmanned aircraft had filmed more than 2,000 people wading across the lagoon which borders the fighting zone on the non-seaward side.
Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said the civilians had braved rebel fire to reach government-held areas.
"There is a large number of people crossing, and the (rebels) fired at them. Four people were killed, 14 were wounded," he said.
The Sri Lankan army’s version of events cannot be independently verified and there has been no comment from the rebels.
The authorities and the rebels blame each other for civilian deaths.
As the fighting continued, Britain said on Thursday that it supported an early inquiry into whether war crimes have been committed in Sri Lanka.
"We would support an early investigation into all incidents that may have resulted in civilian casualties … to determine whether war crimes have been committed," said junior foreign minister Bill Rammell.
He said the UN’s estimate of more than 6,500 civilian deaths since January was – if accurate – "truly shocking and appalling".
UN Concern
Earlier, the UN Security Council asked the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers to ensure the safety of civilians.
The council has expressed "grave concern" at the "worsening humanitarian crisis" in the region.
US President Barack Obama also urged the army to stop shelling of civilian areas and called on the rebels to lay down their arms.
Meanwhile, Save the Children said on Thursday that a growing number of traumatised, malnourished children were becoming separated from their families as they fled the war zone and entered government-controlled camps.
"The camps are chaotic," said spokesman Branko Golubovic. "These children are coming out of combat areas where they have been severely traumatised only to find themselves in yet another harsh environment in the camps."
Nearly 200,000 civilians are believed to be living in the government’s overcrowded displacement camps.
GO TO ORIGINAL – BBC NEWS
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