Top UN relief official heading to Sri Lanka
With civilians still caught in crossfire between Government forces and separatist Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka, the top United Nations humanitarian official will head to the South Asian nation for a three-day visit, it was announced today.
During his mission which begins tomorrow, John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, will meet with authorities to discuss urgent issues, including the need for the Government to help humanitarian agencies access the conflict area, as well as the situation of camps set up for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Mr. Holmes will also press for the release of UN staff members detained in camps.
Yesterday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is dispatching a relief team to the shrinking conflict zone, a five square-mile pocket of land where fighting rages between the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The move was welcomed by the Security Council today.
UN spokesperson Marie Okabe explained today that the mission will be carried out by the UN Country Team already in Sri Lanka, not sent in from the outside.
Yesterday, the Secretary-General underlined stressed, “it is critical that this team be allowed into the zone as soon as possible and I am asking for strong support and speedy assistance of the Sri Lankan Government,” adding that, for its part, the LTTE must put down its arms and protect civilians.
Meanwhile, the Office for the Coordination (OCHA) emphasized that the humanitarian situation in the embattled Vanni region continues to be critical, calling civilian casualties tragically high and the people''s suffering horrendous.
The UN estimates that some 50,000 civilians remain trapped inside the conflict zone, where fighting continues to be reported, while the Sri Lankan Government says that 109,000 people have fled the war-torn area.
In a press statement today, the Council highlighted the “immediate priority in addressing the grave humanitarian situation in north-east Sri Lanka,” calling on the Government to “extend all necessary support to the United Nations.”
Read out by Ambassador Claude Heller of Mexico, which holds the rotating Council presidency this month, it also urged all parties to respect international humanitarian law and to ensure the safe evacuation and protection of all civilians.
Due to the security situation, OCHA said, no humanitarian assistance has been delivered since 1 April, but that 30 metric tons of aid will be delivered today.
The UN continues to be concerned about malnutrition and health issues, as well as about injuries sustained by evacuees, and by people still in the conflict zone.
Sites for IDPs are extremely overcrowded, with over 107,000 people sheltering in camps and hospitals, OCHA said, adding that it is working with the Government to find new sites and is calling on authorities to allow the uprooted to live with host families.
Meanwhile, the Country Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told reporters today that 100,000 people have left the so-called no-fire zone, which he characterized as the “active fire zone,” over the past 72 hours, with most of them in processing centres.
Amin Awad told reporters in New York today that the agency is asking the Government to “restrain itself” since “we don''t want to end up with a catastrophe.”
He also appealed to the LTTE to allow for an orderly humanitarian evacuation to prevent further casualties, due to the presence of land mines in the area.
UNHCR said it is rushing aid to civilians caught up in conflict, with plans including the emergency airlift of 5,000 tents and other items from its stockpile in Dubai for use in dozens of camps in and around the towns of Vavuniya, Jaffna and Trincomalee.
The agency also welcomed Sri Lanka''s decision to open the Mannar and Trincomalee areas to accommodate the arriving IDPs, and noted that it is seeking access to Kilinochchi to help those on the move.