lanka

UNICEF calls on Sri Lankan fighting faction to stop using children as soldiers

27 April 2007
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today voiced concern about a paramilitary group which sides with the Government of Sri Lanka against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels that the agency believes is not living up to public assurances to eschew recruitment of children as soldiers to fight in the country’s bloody civil conflict.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Sri Lanka: Ban Ki-moon says parties must end escalating cycle of violence

27 March 2007
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today spoke out against escalating violations of the 2002 ceasefire between the Sri Lankan Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and called for them to return to the negotiating table.

Sri Lanka: UN appeals for urgent funds to feed thousands displaced by fighting

20 March 2007
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is appealing for vital funds to boost its operations in eastern Sri Lanka to ensure basic supplies for over 155,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in need of immediate aid after being uprooted by intensified fighting between the Government and Tamil separatists.
IDPs at camp in Sri Lanka's Batticaloa district

UN refugee agency urges Sri Lanka not to forcibly return displaced persons

16 March 2007
After reports that the Sri Lankan authorities have forcibly returned many internally displaced people (IDPs) who fled fighting, the United Nations refugee agency today said that it had received the Government’s assurances that the agency will be “fully engaged” in any future returns to ensure that they are both voluntary and safe.

Sri Lanka: UN Emergency Relief Coordinator calls on both sides to grant aid access

14 March 2007
The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator today called on both sides in strife-torn Sri Lanka to allow humanitarian assistance to get through to those civilians trapped on the frontlines, while also highlighting the plight of over 130,000 people in the east of the island forced to flee their homes because of the recent upsurge in fighting.

UN, aid agencies appeal for civilian protection in Sri Lanka as over 100,000 flee

12 March 2007
Increasing fighting in Sri Lanka between Tamil separatists and the Government has forced well over 100,000 civilians to flee their homes in the eastern district of Batticaloa, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and aid agencies working in the country said today, urging both sides to ensure their protection and comply with international human rights law.

Condemning rebel attack in Sri Lanka, Ban Ki-moon calls for end to violence

27 February 2007
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today condemned an attack by separatist rebels in Sri Lanka which injured senior aid officials, including one from the United Nations, and urged both sides in the conflict to halt the bloodshed and resume talks.

Sri Lanka: UN delivers aid to over 2,000 families hosting internally displaced

6 February 2007
In Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna Peninsula, the United Nations refugee agency has supplied aid to more than 2,000 families hosting thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) who have escaped renewed fighting between the Government forces and separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

Sri Lanka: several thousands reported fleeing intensified government-rebel fighting – UN

19 January 2007
Several thousand more people began fleeing an embattled separatist rebel-held pocket of land on Sri Lanka’s east coast today towards Government positions as Government forces were reported to be advancing amid intensified fighting, the United Nations refugee agency said.

Sri Lanka rebels, breakaway faction still abduct children to fight as soldiers: UN report

16 January 2007
Sri Lankan children are being abducted to fight as soldiers in the bloody island conflict by separatist Tamil Tiger rebels and a breakaway group known as the Karuna faction, the Secretary-General has warned in his latest report to the Security Council, calling for an immediate end to the practice and recommending “targeted measures” in response.