Conditions in Sri Lanka’s north ‘like Somalia’

By pearlaction | December 10, 2008 |

[Telegraph] SO little independent, verifiable information is coming out of northern Sri Lanka at the moment that I thought I should share this BBC report based on an interview with a World Food Programme employee, John Campbell, broadcast on the network’s Sinhala service. Speaking from a waterlogged village in a rebel-controlled area, he made this…

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Family of Sri Lanka massacre victims doubt justice

By pearlaction | March 24, 2008 |

[Reuters] Relatives of 17 aid workers massacred in Sri Lanka said on Monday they did not expect justice as a heated human rights inquiry began into their execution-style murders more than a year ago. Ravi Shantha, the aunt of one of the Action Contre la Faim (ACF) aid workers killed in August 2006 in the…

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SRI LANKA: Spreading the news to IDPs

By pearlaction | March 17, 2008 |

[IRIN] People receiving emergency relief rarely know exactly what is available for them, or how to access it. For many people escaping violence in Sri Lanka’s war zones and stuck in camps, information on basic services or job and education opportunities could be vital. Lifeline, a project administered by Internews Network, an international media development…

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SRI LANKA: Half a million people could be affected by conflict in 2008

By pearlaction | February 25, 2008 |

[IRIN] The UN and NGOs working in the conflict-ridden north and east are warning of a mounting humanitarian toll in 2008 due to the escalation in hostilities between Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Agencies should be prepared to assist “up to 500,000 conflict-affected individuals comprising IDPs, returnees and…

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