Posts Tagged ‘UN’
In Sri Lanka, UN Still Withholds Casualty Numbers, Funds Detention Camps
[Inner City Press] For two weeks, Inner City Press has asked at the UN whether international aid funds will be used for detention camps in which those fleeing the conflict zone in Sri Lanka will be detained, until the end of 2009 or longer. Holmes on Monday confirmed that the UN has “offered to assist…
Read More‘Great danger’ for civilians in Sri Lanka conflict: UN
[AFP] Tens of thousands of Sri Lankan civilians face “great danger” after being caught in fighting between Tamil rebels and the advancing military, a senior UN diplomat warned on Friday. “Estimates vary of the number of civilians trapped, from 70,000 according to the government, through around 200,000 according to UN estimates, up to 300,000 or…
Read MoreUN’s Ban urges suspension of Sri Lanka fighting
[Reuters] U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Monday for a “suspension in fighting” between the Sri Lanka government and Tamil Tiger separatists to allow civilians to escape. “There is an urgent need to bring this conflict to an end without any further unnecessary loss of civilian life and destruction of Sri Lankan society,” Ban told…
Read MoreTamils set for Geneva mass march over Sri Lanka-UN
[Reuters] About 20,000 Tamils from across Europe are expected to protest in Geneva on Friday at Sri Lanka’s military offensive against Tamil rebels, the United Nations said on Thursday. Police in the Swiss city, which is home to the U.N. European headquarters and to many Tamil immigrants, said 200 buses from across Europe were expected…
Read MoreUN chief in S Lanka civilian plea
[BBC] Visiting top UN humanitarian official John Holmes has urged Sri Lanka’s army and the Tamil Tigers to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties. The government says the Tigers are using human shields, but the rebels say civilians are seeking their protection. This is Mr Holmes’s first visit since 2007 when his comment that…
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