Sri Lanka prevents aid for Tamils: NGOs

Even before the 2004 tsunami struck, many people in Sri Lanka relied on humanitarian support from aid organizations, but their numbers greatly increased on Boxing Day that year when the tidal wave swept over its coastal areas.

As if that weren’t tragic enough, the armed conflict between Sri Lankan government forces and the the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has rekindled this year.

It has since escalated in the northern and eastern parts of the island nation into an undeclared war under which the civilian population is particularly suffering.

Aid organizations have levelled accusations against the government, saying Colombo is trying to prevent aid from reaching places where it is most needed and was thereby risking the lives of many civilians.

In particular, the government wants to keep aid out of Tiger-controlled areas in the embattled north and east, aid groups charged.

“As long as aid volunteers are present in these areas, international observers are there as well,” said Dorothe Nett, a representative of German Agro Action.

“This is something that does not seem to be wanted (by the government).”

Aid organizations said they are afraid the government doesn’t want international observers to witness a looming humanitarian crisis and don’t want any witnesses to possible violence.

International observers have repeatedly charged both sides in the conflict with human rights violations. Civilians are regularly targeted for attack while both parties in the conflict blame one another for the killings.

In Muttur in north-eastern Sri Lanka, 17 local post-tsunami aid workers with a French organization were found shot to death in August. Of those victims, 16 were ethnic Tamils, and foreign observers blamed government forces for the massacre.

Even churches, hospitals and ambulances have become targets although it is often unclear who the attackers are.

Important donors like Norway, the European Union, United States and Japan have demanded guarantees for the safety of aid volunteers and their access to people in need.

Colombo, meanwhile, has cited safety concerns as well as the government’s wish to execute better control over the movement of aid groups as reasons for restricted access to the Tiger-held areas.

But the government cannot officially prohibit aid for LTTE-controlled regions because it is dependent on the goodwill of the international community as well.

At the same time, however, the government media has embarked on a hate campaign against foreign aid workers, accusing them of being LTTE sympathizers and even enriching themselves.

Even reputable organizations like the Red Cross have not been spared from the tirades.

In addition, international aid workers active in the north and east reported government-instigated chicanery. For example, the renewal of their work permits has become a matter of sheer luck, they said. Officials demand documents such as verified translations of foreign marriage certificates to even accept applications.

Convoys have also been turned back at government checkpoints and prevented from entering areas under LTTE control.

Apart from that, the government recently froze all assets of the Tamil-operated aid organization TRO on the accusation that the TRO funded weapons purchases by the Tigers - an accusation the TRO denied.

TRO project coordinator Arjunan Ethirveerasingam voiced concerns that Colombo might attempt to ‘starve out’ Tamils in the Tiger-held areas to force them to flee into government-controlled regions.

‘That would be using food as a weapon,’ he charged.

Ethirveerasingam warned of the threat of a ‘famine like in Ethiopia’ if the government continued to prevent food aid from reaching LTTE areas.

And it was not any more a matter of months for a famine to happen but rather a matter of weeks, he said.