The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), struggling to cope with hundreds of thousands of displaced people in Batticaloa, has warned of acute shortage of basic supplies including food and urged for immediate assistance from the international community.
According to the WFP, over 200,000 Tamils driven out by Sri Lankan military offensives in the eastern district will run out of food by end of April, if urgent funds are not received from donor countries.
"If donor governments do not come in with fresh funds, supplies will run out by end April," WFP spokesperson in Colombo Selvi Sacithandam said.
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| (file photo) Large numbers of Tamil refugees are crammed into overcrowded camps in Sri Lanka military controlled areas. Photo: Gamini Obeysekara/AFP/Getty Images |
“Unless we receive new funding very soon, we will run out of food supplies by the end of April. After all the suffering endured by the victims of the fighting in Sri Lanka, they should not be hurt further by a lack of international support and concern,” he said.
Referring to the latest influx of refugees as a major humanitarian challenge, the WFP official added “we will do everything we can to ensure that all these victims of the conflict – many of them women and children – get the assistance they so desperately need.”
Since the latest exodus began on March 8, the WFP has issued repeated warnings of impending food shortage and appealed for assistance to provide for the IDPs in Batticaloa.
According to the agency it could only take care of 60% of the supplies and that the remainder was to be provided by the Sri Lankan Government and other assistance of local NGOs and INGOs.
Basil Sylvester, District Officer in Batticaloa for the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies said "The UN can only take care of 60% of the food supplies, and they say that they are running out funds, there are a lot of people here and we need to act fast,"
Food however is not the only concern, according UN agencies, who say that security, sanitation and over crowding are all major concerns.
The Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) has warned that "WFP is facing a break in pipeline towards end of April and is calling for urgent contributions from donors with requirements only for conflict IDPs and vulnerable groups affected by the hostilities at US$ 1 million a week for 400,000 people nation-wide.”
According to WFP lack of international support has forced it to put on hold its Mother and Child Nutrition and school feeding programme in order to re-direct its limited resources towards the newly displaced and suspend most food-for-work rehabilitation projects for the tsunami affected.
Meanwhile the Common Humanitarian Action Plan for Sri Lanka has only received 33 percent of its required funding for food assistance.
The WFP told a press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland said it was too early to predict whether international donor funds would come through.
