Government officials assisted by police and security force personnel were this week pressed into service in a frantic bid to accommodate the sudden exodus of civilians from the LTTE-controlled no-fire zone as the UN appealed for more aid from international donors to meet the humanitarian crisis.
People, including day-old infants to the old and feeble, continue to flee into government-held areas even as the guerrillas engage the security forces in sporadic fighting to interrupt the mass flight.
According to official estimates, about 110,000 people have entered government-controlled areas over the past week, raising the number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) in the government-held areas to more than 178,000.
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| An elderly woman toiling her way to a shelter |
Sabaragamuwa Province Chief Minister Mahipala Herath was directed to set up a temporary office in Vavuniya and coordinate the relief efforts with Government Agents from Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Kandy also being involved.
“Our main task is to set up about 30,000 temporary shelters for these people, and we are working round the clock to make this happen in the shortest period of time,” Mr. Herath told The Sunday Times.
“At present there are some 150,000 IDPs concentrated in Vavuniya. This number is expected to swell in the next few days,” he said.
We are receiving cooperation from UN agencies, NGOs, both local and foreign, and hundreds of volunteers from the region. The government is ready to meet such a situation although such large numbers were not expected in such a short period of time,” Mr. Herath said.
In addition, 10 schools have been taken over and turned into make-shift shelters till these relief villages are completed , he said.
He said there was no shortage of food with IDPs being provided with cooked meals until they are settled in the ‘relief villages’ where communal or individual cooking would be encouraged, Mr. Herath said.
Meanwhile, Re-Settlement Ministry secretary U.L.M. Halaldeen said the government had a contingency plan to deal with the situation and was currently working along those lines. “Such a large influx of people was expected at any time therefore the government was always ready to deal with the situation. There may be a few shortcomings owing to the magnitude of the situation but matters would be ironed out soon,” he assured.
Vavuniya District Secretary H.M.B.A. Charles said volunteers were appealing to the public for bottles of drinking water and cooked meals, while local schools had been turned into temporary shelters.
Meanwhile the UN has sent out an SOS to donors seeking more aid to tackle the swelling humanitarian issue, but says its agencies have ample food and medicine stocks that could be made readily available to the IDPs.
World Food Programme (WFP), country director Adnan Khan said they always maintained a buffer stock of some 1,000 tonnes of food at a centre in Vavuniya and much more in their Colombo bases.
“We do not foresee a food crisis at the moment, but things could change as the numbers keep piling on and therefore we have appealed for more assistance from the international donor community,” Mr. Khan told The Sunday Times.
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| Freedom from misery: Hundreds of civilians toiling their way to a shelter |
“We are facing the issue on two tracks. One is to send supplies to the IDPs in Vavuniya, Jaffna and elsewhere and the other to those still trapped in the safe zone. Our intention is to reach out to the safe zone as long as there are non combatants in that area and we are working closely with the authorities to this end,” Mr. Khan said.
He added that a shipload of supplies intended for the safe zone was currently anchored at the Trincomalee port but that it maybe re-directed to the Jaffna peninsula due to security reasons.
Meanwhile, independent reports suggest that there is a shortage of water and proper sanitation facilities in some of the make-shift centres housing the IDPS with women and children being the most affected categories. “This is mainly where a large number of IDPS have been settled in schools where there are sometimes just two toilets,” officials with the GA office in Jaffna said.
They added however that the situation would change when the IDPS are taken to the relief villages which will have more facilities.
UNICEF appeals for international aid
The United Nations Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has sent out an SOS for $5 million, as the international organization braces for a larger exodus of people into Vavuniya and other regions in the days to come.
UNICEF’s Colombo representative James Elder said the agency was currently dealing with the problem of tackling malnutrition among the children.
He said in addition the agency had provided mobile toilets and hygiene kits to the IDPS inside the camps,” Mr. Elder said.
In addition, UNICEF is operating a maternity, and paediatric ward inside the government hospital at Vavuniya, he added. “However our main task is to monitor and help out in the needs of the children and elders. UNICEF will also make every effort to get the children back to school at the earliest,” Mr. Elder said.
Collecting centres
gather momentum
Dozens of organizations and other individuals have come forward to provide assistance by collecting food and other materials in various parts of the country.
The first such aid was sent to Vavuniya by the Thammutugema Traders Association earlier this week
The association’s president J.K.P. Munidasa said they sent some 80,000 kilos of fresh fruit and vegetables to the IDPS at Vavuniya, and were planning to send more shipments.
Meanwhile collecting centres throughout the country to allow the public to help in whatever way possible.
All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) urgently appeals for female clothing and sarongs, saying the worst affected were women who were forced to flee only with the clothes they were wearing.
Send the children to charity missions
A Catholic priest has appealed to parents and the authorities in the IDP centres to send their children to charity missions where they will be treated humanely under the care of nuns from the Mother Theresa Order.
Father Alfred Alexander made this appeal following discussions held with clergy from other faiths and senior church leaders.
He said the children were the voiceless pawns in the bloody conflict that was now nearing an end, and deserved a better future than their traumatic past.
“The children did not ask for the war, and it is only fitting that they be given a better deal in life even at this late hour,” he said,
“The atmosphere at the Mother Theresa Order would be perfect since the nuns are a neutral congregation and would deal with the children irrespective of caste, creed. race or religion,” he told The Sunday Times.
The children could be absorbed at missions in Jaffna, Trincomalee and Colombo until such time they could be sent back to their parents, he added. |
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