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Appeal to end internment camps in Sri Lanka |
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2009-08-20 | 11.30 AM |
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Three months on from military victory yet the misery continues for over 300,000 Tamil civilians in the island of Sri
Lanka, who remain confined in military-run internment camps, hidden from the glare of international witnesses.
The Times UK reported deplorable death tolls in these camps arising from malnutrition, widespread disease and
insufficient medical facilities.
With the ongoing restrictions to aid agencies and international monitors, the true extent
of the risks facing these imprisoned civilians remains vastly obscured. These supposed ‘welfare camps’ lack adequate
sanitation facilities and access to clean water. |
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As monsoon season fast approaches, heavy rains in the areas of Vavuniya District and Menik Farm have already
resulted in up to 1,925 shelters being damaged or destroyed as reported by the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
New York based Human Rights Watch, have once again appealed for the release of these interned civilians, "The
government has detained people in these camps and is threatening their health and even their lives by keeping them
there during the rainy season floods… This is illegal, dangerous, and inhumane". Fear of widespread waterborne
disease and sanitation problems were further highlighted in their appeal, “The government bears full responsibility for
the situation in the camps… Locking families up in squalid conditions and then blaming aid agencies for their plight is
downright shameful".
Marking the inaugural World Humanitarian Day, the UN has dedicated 19 August as a day to commemorate the
dedication and determination of aid workers risking their lives for the betterment of others caught in humanitarian
crisis and to also highlight the ongoing plight of thousands around the world.
Sri Lanka was highlighted for the 17 Action Contre La Faim (ACF) aid workers who were killed in Sri Lanka in 2006 in
an attack on their compound by armed men and for the plight of the population still incarcerated in IDP camps, denied
their basic right to freedom of movement.
A thought must also be spared for the government doctors who remain detained by the Sri Lankan authorities,
punished for reporting the true extent of causalities during the final onslaught on what was the ‘Safe Zone’.
The continuous refusal to engage with international humanitarian organisations and allow access to international
monitors and free media places a modern day ‘iron curtain’ over a humanitarian crisis that no longer takes precedence
on the international agenda and gives little hope for the Sri Lankan government’s commitment towards reconciliation.
It is hoped that the statement made by the Assistant Secretary of State, Robert Blake, will set the precedent for other
international institutions to help free the Tamils left languishing in barbed-wire camps in Sri Lanka, ”Our ability to
provide money for reconstruction and for resettlement and livelihood and other activities will depend a lot on the
progress that Sri Lanka makes in terms of abiding by its commitment to resettle the IDPs as quickly as possible.
Secondly, on the progress it makes towards political reconciliation and devolution of power”.
British Tamils Forum calls upon international institutions, governments, rights groups and humanitarian organisations
to rise to this unprecedented violation of human rights and continuous crimes against humanity and urgently appeal
for the release of the imprisoned civilians from these inhumane internment camps in Sri Lanka. |
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