Sri Lanka: “Don’t Abuse the Displaced”

By pearlaction | March 9, 2009 |

[Human Rights Watch] “It is time for concerned governments like Japan, India, and the US to ensure that President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government and the Tamil Tigers allow the victims of this conflict to live with justice and dignity. Both sides should agree to a humanitarian corridor and otherwise respect the laws of war.” Our latest…

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Calls for temporary truce and humanitarian corridors in Sri Lanka

By pearlaction | February 6, 2009 |

[Amnesty International] Amnesty International has called on the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to immediately declare a temporary humanitarian truce and create humanitarian corridors. This would allow more than a quarter of a million civilians trapped in the Wanni region to escape the ongoing war and also let food,…

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S Lanka’s ‘Somalia conditions’

By pearlaction | December 10, 2008 |

[BBC] A UN official in a rebel-held area of northern Sri Lanka has said that conditions for displaced people there are “as basic as in Somalia”. John Campbell, from the World Food Programme (WFP), told the BBC Sinhala service that conditions were “as basic as can be” and “much less than ideal”. Mr Campbell was…

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Floods displace thousands in east Sri Lanka

By pearlaction | March 18, 2008 |

[Reuters] Floods triggered by torrential rain have forced more than 7,000 people from their homes in eastern Sri Lanka, with some taking shelter in schools and mosques, officials said on Tuesday. Flooding and ensuing mass displacement are common in Sri Lanka, often fuelled by monsoon rains. The latest flood victims included families living in basic…

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