Sri Lanka: Number of internally-displaced increased

(New York: 14 March 2007): According to the latest report of the United Nations Country Team in Sri Lanka, the number of people who are being displaced by the current escalation in hostilities in the east of the island has risen by 40,000. The influx of tens of thousands of civilians has increased the total number of internally displaced persons in conflict-affected Batticaloa district from 88,000 to over 130,000. Large numbers of people continue to escape the fighting, seeking shelter and protection away from the shelling. Batticaloa District is home to the highest number of internally displaced persons in the country.

"I am extremely concerned that tens of thousands of civilians have had to flee their homes once again in eastern Sri Lanka due to the new escalation in violence," said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, who met with the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka in New York on 13 March to discuss these issues. "I appeal to both parties in the conflict to respect the lives of the civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law."

In conflict-ridden eastern Sri Lanka, the number of people in need exceeds the current capacity of the United Nations humanitarian agencies and their non-governmental partners. Their main concern is not only the civilians still remaining in the conflict zone but also those that are coming out. Women and children are particularly vulnerable in the current environment. At the moment, the aid community is aiding close to 600,000 displaced persons in Sri Lanka -- those displaced by the previous conflict and the 2004 tsunami disaster, including those forced to flee in recent months.

"My main worry at the moment," Holmes added, "is for the civilians who have been unable to leave the conflict zones. The UN agencies are unable to operate in frontline areas and therefore cannot help the civilians living there. The UN is ready to support the government to step up efforts to respond to the growing needs of IDPs in the East. All parties to the Sri Lanka conflict must grant access to humanitarian agencies so that they can help those trapped in the crossfire."

In addition to access, another impediment to humanitarian operations is very limited funding. The United Nations has almost no funds to meet even the most basic requirements of the IDPs just as the number of IDPs is rapidly increasing. The most urgent need at the moment is food, with the World Food Programme (WFP) reporting that they do not have the additional in-country stocks for this latest influx. Other priority areas include shelter and water and sanitation, areas that were already under severe strain. "The needs of persons internally displaced by conflict are especially acute," Holmes said. "While I welcome the contributions made thus far -- by Italy, Sweden, and the United States, as well as Australia, Canada, ECHO [European Commission Humanitarian Aid department], and Switzerland and the pledges of others -- they represent only a fraction of the funds needed to help people in a timely fashion, " he added.

The Sri Lanka Common Humanitarian Action Plan for 2007, which calls for $66.2 million, has so far received only $2.7 million, or four per cent of the funding required. Of that amount, over 20 per cent has been provided by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

For further information, please call: Orla Clinton, OCHA Sri Lanka, 94 773207505, clinton@un.org; Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int.