MSF: Civilians Under Fire in Sri Lanka

Media Release

Doctors Without Boarders: Civilians Under Fire in Sri Lanka While Assistance is Limited

2006 marked a grim year for Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) working in the Northeast of Sri Lanka. There has been an exponential increase in the demands made of them due to the huge increase in internally displaced persons. At the same time there have been a number of small and large scale attacks directed specifically against the NGOs.

These attacks include the massacre of 17 aid workers, the abduction of aid workers, the bombing of NGO run refugee camps, the destruction of NGO offices and supplies and the obstruction of NGO activities.

In the report, ‘Top 10 Most Underreported Humanitarian Stories of 2006’, Doctors Without Boarders (MSF) included the situation in Northeast of Sri Lanka: ‘Civilians Under Fire in Sri Lanka While Assistance is Limited’. The report notes:

“Civilians in Sri Lanka have born the brunt of major fighting that resumed in August 2006 between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), especially in the country's east and northeast. Bombing has been intense in war-affected regions, leading to the displacement of tens of thousands of people. Others are trapped and cannot flee. The level of violence directed at civilians has increased — a brutal reality that was underscored by the murders of 17 aid workers from Action Contre la Faim (ACF) in early August.”

“These killings occurred in a general climate of suspicion, accusations, restrictions, and surveillance of NGOs, with Sri Lankan politicians and media outlets accusing international organizations of supporting the Tamil rebellion. As a result, some authorities have tried to evict or restrict humanitarian organizations from accessing conflict areas even as hospitals that fall under the Ministry of Health had requested outside help. As in any armed conflict, warring parties must respect the independence and neutrality of humanitarian aid workers if civilians are to receive lifesaving emergency assistance.”

In the opinion of COTANZ (Consortium of Tamil Association in New Zealand), the specific targeting of Tamil civilians and NGO workers will only stop when there exists a sufficient cost to the Sri Lankan government for implementing this type of tactic. The events of 2006 amply demonstrate that the level of pressure bought to bear by the Sri Lankan judicial system does not create a sufficient cost.

ENDS

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