Some 24,000 displaced fled northern Sri Lanka violence so far this year – UN
As a result, transit sites, few of which have been prepared so far, are becoming overcrowded.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), a new “safe zone” has been set up along the western boundary of the Mullaitivu Lagoon, which includes areas where UN staff and their dependents are staying.
Over 350 people, including wounded children and orphans, have been evacuated to Trincomalee on the eastern coast, where the hospital no longer has space for new arrivals.
Authorities have located a facility for some 100 of those who are less severely wounded, and the UN and Sri Lanka’s Department of Public Health are assessing preparedness and response adequacy.
Earlier this week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed “outrage” at the senseless killing of hundreds of civilians caught up in fighting between Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE in areas under rebel command.
“We are calling upon both the Government and the LTTE to halt indiscriminate fighting in close proximity to large concentrations of innocent people in the so-called safe zone,” agency spokesperson Ron Redmond said.