Illegal and unfair treatment of displaced

Illegal and unfair treatment of displaced in Sri Lanka’s east

On March 15 th 2007 the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) received disturbing reports of increased police presence around displacement sites in the eastern Batticaloa district, where more than 150,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) reside, UN spokesperson Ron Redmond told a press briefing in Geneva. “According to one of the reports, women and children at one site were forced to board buses despite pleas that they couldn’t leave while their husbands were still at work and children at school,” Mr. Redmond said.

“… we also are disturbed by statements attributed to local authorities that all assistance may be stopped if internally displaced people remain in Batticaloa and that the Government would not be able to guarantee their safety,” he added. Many returnees interviewed by UNHCR, which advocates only voluntary return movements, has voiced serious concern over the security situation in their places of origin, and the agency believes returnees are currently not armed with the necessary information to make decisions on whether to make the journey home.

Further compounding the problem is the shortage of food available to the IDPs. The World Food Programme says its food stocks are low and desperately needs help to be able to feed everyone. "Presently the sheer number (of displaced), 150,000 approximately, is overwhelming the resources available," said Sacha Bouter, head of WFP's Batticaloa operations. "We estimate the gap at the moment is probably somewhere between 30,000-40,000 people in terms of food." "This is the first time in the history of this area that this level of displacement has taken place," she added. Another compounding factor is the presence of armed groups, some identified as part of a breakaway group of Tamil Tigers known as the Karuna faction, are infiltrating camps for newly displaced people and abducting residents, according to sources known to Amnesty International.

“We are hearing reports of armed men, wearing the uniforms of the Karuna faction, roaming the camps and even distributing relief goods", said Purna Sen, Asia Pacific Director at Amnesty International. "The Karuna faction appears to operate throughout Batticaloa town with the complicity of the Sri Lankan authorities."

In the opinion of COTANZ (Consortium of Tamil Association in New Zealand), the number of the IDPs and the state of their camps in the Northeast is one of the clear indications that the government of Sri Lanka values the Tamils of the Northeast less that other groups within Sri Lanka.

ENDS

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