Thousands Homeless In Sri Lanka's East

COTANZ Consortium of Tamil Associations in New Zealand. Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Palmerston North 14 March 2007

Over one hundred thousand recently made homeless in Sri Lanka’s East

The International Committee of the Red Cross says more than 105,000 mainly Tamil refugees have fled their homes in Batticaloa district, in the east of Sri Lanka. The residents' flight began in December when the military intensified its attacks against LTTE positions in the area.

"The artillery shells fired by the military are falling inside civilian settlements and this is forcing the people to flee," said Senadhiraja Jeyanandamoorthy, a member of Parliament for Batticaloa district representing the Tamil National Alliance.

Jeyanandamoorthy also accused the government of failing to support the tens of thousands of displaced people. "There are now over 40,000 new refugees, but they don't have enough food and proper shelter," he said. "The government is not providing them with facilities, therefore the international community should come forward to stop this."

T. Ariyanenthiran, another Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian for Batticaloa, said in an urgent appeal on behalf of the Tamil National Alliance, requesting the International Community to intervene immediately to stop the Sri Lanka Government's war on Tamils in the east.

Following the recent displacements the UN issued a statement expressing concern at the number of internally displaced, warning that this was “creating further pressure on an already difficult situation that will require more resources and capacity from all actors.”

“As fighting continues, we are also worried for the safety and protection of all civilians, as reports indicate that shelling is occurring from and to, highly populated areas.” The UN called on both sides to immediately ensure the protection of civilians in these areas. The UN also urged them to comply with their international human rights and humanitarian law obligations, as expressed in the Security Council resolutions on the protection of civilians and the guiding principles on internal displacement.

In the opinion of COTANZ (Consortium of Tamil Association in New Zealand), the number of the IDPs and the state of their camps in the Northeast is one of the clear indications that the government of Sri Lanka values the Tamils of the Northeast less that other groups within Sri Lanka.

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