Members of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International currently working in Sri Lanka have called Friday on the parties involved in recent violence in the country to guarantee access to all humanitarian agencies.
The member organisations continue to work in the country in response to the December 2004 tsunami and are urging the warring parties to guarantee the aid groups access to those wounded and displaced by the current hostilities and to allow the post-tsunami reconstruction work to continue.A statement was released by eight ACT members who describe the difficult situation faced by the aid groups in continuing their relief work for tsunami survivors.
In the statement, the relief organisations stated that “the current situation is having a devastating impact on the tsunami work in the northern and eastern parts of the country, bringing much of the work to a halt and severely setting back the reconstruction work.”
Heavy fighting between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and Sri Lankan government troops has prevented humanitarian aid workers from reaching the affected areas.
The statement by the ACT members also follows the discovery of 17 humanitarian workers belonging to the international aid group Action Contre La Faim found killed in their offices in the northeaster town of Mutur.
The killings prompted the call from humanitarian aid groups across the world for parties involved in conflicts to respect international humanitarian law and allow access to aid groups to provide relief for people in need.
