Aid groups ask for access to Lanka battlefields
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced yesterday that he will visit Sri Lanka later this week, in part to get a first-hand look at the situation on the ground after the Government declared that its military operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has ended.
The 22-23 May visit would be to respond to the urgent need to heal the wounds of a war that has alienated the communities in the country for almost three decades, Ban told a news conference in Geneva.
“The task now facing the people of Sri Lanka is immense and requires all hands,” he said, stressing the need for progress in three critical areas: immediate humanitarian relief; reintegration and reconstruction; and a sustainable and equitable political solution, according to a release of UN News Centre received yesterday.
The Sri Lankan government has barred journalists and international aid workers from the war zone for months, allowing only the Red Cross to periodically send a boat to the area to deliver food aid and evacuate the wounded.
Ban's Chief of Staff, Vijay Nambiar, is currently in the country and is engaged with relevant parties on how best to respond to the humanitarian situation of the large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and initiate a process for early recovery and long-term reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction.
UN agencies are stepping up their efforts to assist the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that there are around 220,000 people who have already reached the IDP camps, and it is believed that another 40,000-60,000 people are on their way to the sites.
John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters yesterday that the large influx of people poses “major humanitarian challenges” in terms of providing shelter and other basic services, such as food, clean water and medical services.
“The conditions in these camps are certainly not ideal. They're not up to international standards yet but everybody is working very hard to try to make sure that they are,” he stated.
The head of the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) yesterday called for full and unimpeded humanitarian access so that women and children can receive the assistance they need, following reports that access to some IDP camps has become restricted.
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