RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: ‘Plight of Tamils Similar to Gaza Civilians’
[IPS]
While the Sri Lankan army has announced the capture of Mullaitivu, the last bastion of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the plight of more than 250,000 civilians caught in the fighting continues to be as grim as that of civilians in Gaza, say those involved in humanitarian work. Peter Balleis, international director of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS),… “Around 300,000 people, that is two-thirds of the civilian population, have been forced out of their homes and are living in camps in areas controlled by the LTTE. They are trapped in (an area) not more than 50 sq km, the size of Gaza,” Balleis said.