Sri Lanka: UN expert calls for ‘humanitarian pause’ to save trapped civilians
[UN News Centre]
“I am deeply concerned for the lives of over 100,000 civilians trapped in the 14-square kilometre area of the Vanni declared by the Government of Sri Lanka as a no-fire zone, Walter Kälin, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Representative for the Human Rights of Displaced Persons said following a four-day visit to the island nation. “I believe that a series of humanitarian pauses must be initiated immediately to allow civilians to leave and humanitarian actors to provide life-saving relief to the remaining population,” he said.