Families in distress, who have fled the fighting zone, are legion in the gigantic Camp of Manik Farm (the largest camp set up by the army to accommodate the displaced) in Sri Lanka: 170,000 Tamils are crammed into deplorable conditions, deprived of freedom of movement – except to go to nearby hospitals – and separated from their relatives.
Despite the visit of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who visited the refugee camp last May and demanded “immediate and unhindered” access for humanitarian organizations, nothing seems to have changed.
Fourteen organizations warned at the time that “thousands of lives were at risk.
aid boat and yet humanitarian aid remains docked.
Sri Lanka’s naval forces boarded and seized a boat from Britain on Monday, loaded with humanitarian aid for refugees, which was attempting to enter the island’s territorial waters illegally.
For the Tamilarkalam Aid Association,”Tamilarkalam, the government wants to hide the horrors of its abuses at all
costs. “They have killed thousands of civilians, not just Tigers of the armed branch. They don’t want the world to know. Yet everyone suspects, it’s total misery there,” says one of its officials, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Shadow areas and evictions seem to be commonplace
now. According to an AFP statement, a Canadian MP was arrested on Wednesday upon arrival at Colombo International Airport and faces deportation, with Sri Lankan authorities blaming him for supporting the Tamil Tigers, an official said.
No international investigation And the controversy swells around this bloody war as Sri Lanka’s foreign minister has warned that investigations into alleged human rights violations during the offensive against the Tamil rebellion will not be conducted by international justice.
For his part, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has pledged that 80% of the refugees will be returned home by the end of the year and that the camps will be closed “as soon as
possible”. Sri Lanka declared its military victory in mid-May against the separatist rebellion of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending 37 years of war that left 80,000 to 100,000 dead and 300,000 refugees.
