Sri Lanka: Need for international relief 'urgent'

Tearfund is calling for international aid to be scaled up to reach some 250,000 displaced Tamil people and for them to be quickly allowed to return to their home areas.

The Christian relief and development agency reports appalling conditions in many of the camps in the north of Sri Lanka where civilians are being held, and says that the international community mustn’t become complacent now that the fighting is over.

Working through three local agencies, Tearfund’s partner teams have been providing relief to thousands of families caught in the final months of the conflict’s escalation.

With the death of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran and the defeat of Tamil Tiger forces, Tearfund partner teams say they hope that relief aid – food, medical assistance sanitation and shelter – can increase quickly to meet the needs of traumatised, injured and homeless civilians.

Some 250,000 people, the majority of whom are women and children, are dispersed among 38 displacement camps which, according to Tearfund and local aid workers, are below UN minimal standards.

The camps are surrounded by razor wire, guarded by the army and now expanding to cope with the huge influx of people arriving from the conflict zone. For security reasons, relief aid vehicles are restricted and so Tearfund partner aid teams are relying on bicycles to move supplies.

The Tamil people held in camps are unable to return home while areas are de-mined by the Sri Lankan Army. They are also being screened for their involvement with the Tiger combatants.

One partner team aid worker describes the evacuation of the injured who are finally able to leave the conflict zone.

"It was extremely difficult last night as 1600 people arrived at the field hospital during the night, most of them without any previous medical assistance," says Selina, who describes the circumstances as being worse than anything you could imagine.

"Last night it was the worst of all, with the infected wounds at least a week old and with flies all around. The stench and the suffering of the people was unbearable. We managed to cover them and then, when we tried to give water to one – a 35 year old man – we found that he was dead."

It was 4.30am before the team had finished meeting the needs of the first 1200 people, and then another 400 wounded people arrived, starving and dehydrated.

"We must do all we can to ensure that families now being evacuated into overcrowded camps are not subject to the sort of horrors they faced while herded into the so-called ‘safe zone’ on the east coast," says Clare Crawford, Tearfund Programme Manager for Sri Lanka.

"Families have suffered unimaginable trauma, enduring constant bombardment from shelling, hunger and thirst.

"They have seen people die in front of them; they’ve undergone surgery without anaesthetic and are not sure who they can trust for the future.

"Now they are crammed into shared tents, with little food and in desperate need of ongoing medical care for the wounds that have yet to heal - the trauma as well as gunshot. They contemplate an uncertain future and urgently need help."

Tearfund says that the international community carries a responsibility for not doing more to prevent the extensive bloodshed.

Ms Crawford added: "The least it can do now is to offer immediate help to restore lives, homes and hope for Tamil communities whilst ensuring their political needs are addressed."