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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka: UN plans to remove staff ahead of military offensive |
| 2008-09-10 |
| (AKI) - The United Nations said on Tuesday it was removing its relief personnel from Sri Lanka's troubled north, following a government order to leave ahead of a major military offensive. Meanwhile the International Committee of the Red Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe on Monday said Colombo could not guarantee the safety of aid workers "given the present situation". "The ICRC has stepped up activities in the Vanni to meet the needs of the displaced," said Toon Vandenhove, the organisation's head of delegation in Sri Lanka. "Although we have been able to help a significant number of people who had to flee their homes, we are concerned about those who have already had to move several times because of the fighting. Not all have received humanitarian assistance." In August, the ICRC distributed relief items -- including nearly 14,000 family hygiene kits, over 4,700 baby-care parcels, and other essentials to nearly 78,000 displaced people in Vanni. Since hostilities escalated between government troops and Tamil Tiger militants at the beginning of July, more than 84,000 displaced people have received household essentials. Only a few aid agencies, including the UN outfits, still operate inside the rebel-held Wanni district in northern Sri Lanka. Government forces are currently engaged in a major push to dismantle guerilla strongholds there. While there have so far been no reports of significant or large-scale health problems, the authorities remain on the alert for outbreaks of diarrhoea, malaria and other diseases. "The ICRC calls on both parties to the conflict to do their utmost to spare civilians the effects of ongoing hostilities," said Vandenhove. "We are committed to staying close to those in need of humanitarian aid and to meeting their most urgent needs regardless of whether they seek refuge in government or LTTE-controlled areas." The ICRC's relief operation in the Vanni has been financed from the organisation's 2008 budget for Sri Lanka of 27 million dollars. |
| Posted by:Fred |