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Up to 85,000 people to flee Sri Lanka war: UNHCR
[Reuters] Up to 85,000 civilians trapped in northeastern Sri Lanka could flee the war zone in coming weeks as the army closes in on rebel-held territory, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday. The Sri Lankan government has allocated 300 acres of land where the UNHCR can receive up to 42,000 people by the…
Read MoreTamil newspaper editor arrested in Colombo
[Reporters Without Borders] Reporters Without Borders is extremely shocked by today’s arrest of N. Vithyatharan, the editor of Sudar Oli, a Colombo-based Tamil daily that is part of the Uthayan press group. He was forcibly arrested while attending the funeral in Colombo of a relative of the group’s chairman. The media minister told the organisation…
Read MoreUS Senate Panel Discusses Sri Lanka
[Voice of America] A U.S. Senate committee Tuesday focused its attention on the situation in Sri Lanka, where the military is engaged in an intense battle with Tamil Tigers as the two sides struggle for control of what is believed to be the last of the rebel strongholds. Witnesses at the Senate hearing decried the…
Read MoreChildren trapped in Sri Lanka’s conflict
[UNICEF] Sennappu had a split second, a moment, literally a heartbeat to throw her body around her 18-month-old daughter before the bomb landed. Her reactions were enough time to save the life of her baby girl. Sennappu was killed instantly. As Sri Lanka’s conflict has grown in intensity, so too has the number of civilians…
Read MoreSri Lankans who escaped war zone now fenced in
[AP] Devi Segaram kept on the run for two years, forced to move time and again to stay ahead of the civil war sweeping across northern Sri Lanka. Then there was nowhere left to shelter. So, two weeks ago, the teacher and her daughter joined hundreds of other ethnic Tamils to make a dash for…
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