The United Nations refugee agency voiced sadness today at the deaths of eight Sri Lankans who drowned while attempting to return to their homeland by boat from southern India.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced plans today to boost rice production in districts of Sri Lanka hit hard by recent floods or conflict and by the soaring cost of many basic foods.
United Nations officials in Sri Lanka have acknowledged the Government’s announcement that it will take extra steps to improve the freedom of movement of thousands of civilians affected by recent fierce fighting in the north of the country.
The United Nations refugee agency expressed concern today over the safety of thousands of families fleeing escalating violence in northern Sri Lanka between Government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The Government of Sri Lanka needs to stamp out a recent wave of disappearances in which women and humanitarian aid workers are among those who have gone missing, a group of United Nations human rights experts said today.
The United Nations’ top humanitarian official today condemned the continuing targeting of civilians during fighting in Sri Lanka, saying that more than 200 civilian lives have been lost in the country since the beginning of the year.
The United Nations’ top human rights official has deplored the suicide bombing last weekend at the start of a marathon in Sri Lanka that claimed the lives of at least 15 people, including a minister in the national Government.
The United Nations has urged all parties to the conflict in Sri Lanka to do everything they can to protect civilians, after a suicide attack this weekend in the capital, Colombo, claimed the lives of 15 people.
The United Nations refugee agency has lauded the Sri Lankan Government for rescuing 71 boat people who had been adrift at sea for nearly two weeks, and said it is now awaiting access to the survivors of the perilous voyage.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is appealing for $18.6 million to assist an estimated 500,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka who have been uprooted by decades of armed conflict.
