Sri

USG Jan Egeland

Sri Lanka: UN official calls on all sides to protect civilians after deadly army shelling

9 November 2006
The top United Nations relief official today called on all sides in the conflict between the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil separatist rebels to protect civilians after an army artillery bombardment yesterday hit a school sheltering 1,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), killing at least 23 people and wounding 135 others.

Sri Lanka: UN rights chief hails probe into extrajudicial killings but voices concerns

7 November 2006
The top United Nations human rights official today welcomed Sri Lanka's establishment of a commission of inquiry into extrajudicial killings and disappearances, but expressed concern that shortcomings in the national legal system could hamper its effectiveness.

Sri Lanka: UN agencies gear up to help tens of thousands of flood victims

1 November 2006
With an estimated 333,000 Sri Lankans affected by floods, landslides and displacement, United Nations agencies are gearing up to help the Government in its relief efforts.
Child injured in fighting

Sri Lanka: food and fuel shortages hit north after renewed fighting, UNICEF reports

27 October 2006
The 600,000 inhabitants of Sri Lanka’s Jaffna Peninsula, already buffeted by decades of conflict, are now facing food and fuel shortages as a result of a recent upsurge in fighting between Tamil separatists and Government forces, with many businesses closed due to security concerns, according to the latest update from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

UN relief officials say they need better access in war-torn areas in Sri Lanka

18 October 2006
While supporting the Sri Lankan government’s relief efforts for some 204,000 people currently displaced in the north and east, who have fled their homes as a result of the escalating violence, the United Nations’ top emergency relief official said today there are serious concerns about lack of access to some areas, especially in the Tamil north.

Secretary-General deplores ‘appalling’ suicide bombing in Sri Lanka

16 October 2006
Warning against a renewed civil war in Sri Lanka between the Government and Tamil separatists after the latest “appalling” suicide bombing of a convoy of military buses, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on the sides to return to the negotiation table.
Children in a camp on Sri Lanka’s east coast

UN children’s agency helps 45,000 Sri Lankans uprooted by violence

13 October 2006
United Nations agencies are helping the Sri Lankan Government bring in supplies and provisions for 45,000 people who fled south along the island’s east coast, often with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, since fighting intensified between Tamil separatist rebels and government forces in early August.
Children in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka: with supplies cut ‘serious problem’ looms in Jaffna, UN warns

22 September 2006
A “serious problem” is looming in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula where escalating violence between the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Government forces has cut food supplies and driven 60,000 people, nearly half of them children, into displaced persons camps, United Nations agencies have warned.

UN expert welcomes proposed commission on killings in Sri Lanka

5 September 2006
The United Nations independent human rights expert on extrajudicial executions today welcomed the President of Sri Lanka’s announced intention to invite an international commission to inquire into recent killings, disappearances and abductions in the strife-torn country.

Renewed fighting in Sri Lanka disrupts return of displaced, UN refugee agency says

1 September 2006
A new flare-up of fighting in Sri Lanka has disrupted returns to Muttar Town, the scene of recent violence and military operations, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.