FEATURES---
By Aamna Mahboob
As Sri Lanka, scarred by a vicious separatist war by militants among minority ethnic Tamils joined the world in observing the United Nations Committee for Refugees (UNHCR's) World Refugee Day (June 28 2006), more refugees head to neighboring India or to protected shelters in the northeast. The North East is the potential war theater in case the war returns to this island.
A spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency said that presently they were looking after those refugees who left their homes and took shelter in schools and camps in the Mannar area.
This is the area that was worst hit by recent violence unleashed by the rebels who are trying to claim a separate homeland for the Tamils in the northeast.
According to the UNHCR their activities are centered on providing protection for an estimated 314,400 internally displaced people, some of whom have been out of their homes for more than 20 years.
Since April this year, some 50,000 people have fled their homes in Sri Lanka because of renewed violence and are now living mainly in the neighboring towns of Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Puttalam and in the north of the country.
UNHCR is monitoring the displacement and providing protection and humanitarian assistance to the newly displaced refugees.
UNHCR High Commissioner António Guterres recently ended a three-day mission to Sri Lanka. In the first visit by a UNHCR High Commissioner to the country, he met the President and visited affected areas in the North and the East.
The situation in North -East of Sri Lanka is tense and war clouds are heavy over it. Fearing the intensification of war, people in Mannar, Jaffna and adjoining areas too are leaving their homes for safer places.
Some of them even risking death in the rough seas are fleeing the violence that has been unleashed back home.
UNHCR claims that more than 2,800 people have fled from Sri Lanka to India so far this year, mostly from the North-Western district of Mannar.
Many are now housed in camps in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Many more Tamils, particularly those from the eastern area around Trincomalee, have tried to flee after clashes between Sri Lanka armed forces and Tamil Tigers and the ever increasing incidents of mine blasts in these areas.Of the nearly 1000 people killed so far this year, half are civilians.
People are coming from Trincomalee and other remote areas in a bid to flee to India. The total number of displaced persons in Trincomalee district was 26,971 persons or 7,577 familis in May, according to reports.
The "UNHCR continues to work closely with the newly establish Government Task force, UN agencies and NGOs to ensure the effective delivery of humanitarian aid to the recently displaced" the UNHCR spokesman said.
The needs of these refugees include shelter, water, sanitation and food, which could only be met through the effectively coordinated mechanism which UNHCR is currently providing.
He said that their office in Mannar monitors those considering transit to India daily, advising them on the danger of making the journey, and supplying non-food items if required. Their suffering does not end but merely starts again.
In a nearby church, some of those longing to head to India last month were caught in crossfire. One woman was killed and dozens more were injured when a grenade was tossed into the church building. Residents believe the military was responsible the military blames the LTTE.
"Around 150 families are living in two welfare centers in Mannar and we are looking after them," government agent in Mannar, Visvalingam said. While Divisional secretary Stanley De Mel said that 40 families (150 members) are leaving St Mary’s and Thallaimannar."Around 150 families who were staying in temporary shelters in schools have been shifted to Fisheries Corporation, as schools are reopening," said Fr. David Vincent Patrick working with an NGO.
The Sri Lankan Government has adopted strict security measures to check the increasing number of people who try to go to India illegally as refugees. These measures have been effective in stopping these people from adopting dangerous means like trying to travel to India.
The government accused the Tigers of using scare-tactics to force people to flee. The Tigers say people are undergoing abuse at the hands of the military and that they actively discourage people-smuggling.
However the smugglers are charging around Rs. 10,000 per passenger in advance. "One night last week around 37 families including women and children fled to India.
"We do not want them to leave their houses or flee to India. People are risking their lives. Eight refugees drowned in the sea in the way to India," Fr. Patrick said. “Families are coming to Mannar from different places in the north and east.
The police should check their Identity cards and tighten security in the sea area so that we can solve the problem of asylum seekers” said Senaka Dissanayake Program Manager of the National Protection and Durable Solutions for IDP’s project. He said that if the government makes camps for internally displaced people far away from the sea they can control people leaving the country.
“If the government and NGO’s start organizing awareness programs for people leaving the country by sea illegally then we might be able to control it,” he added.
Spokesperson for the Indian high commission in Colombo Naghma Malik said they were providing shelter in camps to those who were fleeing to India on humanitarian grounds. However she said the Indian government would like to discourage the influx of refugees from Sri Lanka. She said she did not know the accurate number of refugees in Tamil Nadu now.
The Asia Tribune recently quoted P.M. Amza, Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Chennai, who thanked the Tamil Nadu Government for its generous assistance to Sri Lankan refugees. “We welcome efforts by the Tamil Nadu State Government to improve the quality of the life of the refugees,” he emphasized.
By Aamna Mahboob
As Sri Lanka, scarred by a vicious separatist war by militants among minority ethnic Tamils joined the world in observing the United Nations Committee for Refugees (UNHCR's) World Refugee Day (June 28 2006), more refugees head to neighboring India or to protected shelters in the northeast. The North East is the potential war theater in case the war returns to this island.
A spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency said that presently they were looking after those refugees who left their homes and took shelter in schools and camps in the Mannar area.
This is the area that was worst hit by recent violence unleashed by the rebels who are trying to claim a separate homeland for the Tamils in the northeast.
According to the UNHCR their activities are centered on providing protection for an estimated 314,400 internally displaced people, some of whom have been out of their homes for more than 20 years.
Since April this year, some 50,000 people have fled their homes in Sri Lanka because of renewed violence and are now living mainly in the neighboring towns of Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Puttalam and in the north of the country.
UNHCR is monitoring the displacement and providing protection and humanitarian assistance to the newly displaced refugees.
UNHCR High Commissioner António Guterres recently ended a three-day mission to Sri Lanka. In the first visit by a UNHCR High Commissioner to the country, he met the President and visited affected areas in the North and the East.
The situation in North -East of Sri Lanka is tense and war clouds are heavy over it. Fearing the intensification of war, people in Mannar, Jaffna and adjoining areas too are leaving their homes for safer places.
Some of them even risking death in the rough seas are fleeing the violence that has been unleashed back home.
UNHCR claims that more than 2,800 people have fled from Sri Lanka to India so far this year, mostly from the North-Western district of Mannar.
Many are now housed in camps in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Many more Tamils, particularly those from the eastern area around Trincomalee, have tried to flee after clashes between Sri Lanka armed forces and Tamil Tigers and the ever increasing incidents of mine blasts in these areas.Of the nearly 1000 people killed so far this year, half are civilians.
People are coming from Trincomalee and other remote areas in a bid to flee to India. The total number of displaced persons in Trincomalee district was 26,971 persons or 7,577 familis in May, according to reports.
The "UNHCR continues to work closely with the newly establish Government Task force, UN agencies and NGOs to ensure the effective delivery of humanitarian aid to the recently displaced" the UNHCR spokesman said.
The needs of these refugees include shelter, water, sanitation and food, which could only be met through the effectively coordinated mechanism which UNHCR is currently providing.
He said that their office in Mannar monitors those considering transit to India daily, advising them on the danger of making the journey, and supplying non-food items if required. Their suffering does not end but merely starts again.
In a nearby church, some of those longing to head to India last month were caught in crossfire. One woman was killed and dozens more were injured when a grenade was tossed into the church building. Residents believe the military was responsible the military blames the LTTE.
"Around 150 families are living in two welfare centers in Mannar and we are looking after them," government agent in Mannar, Visvalingam said. While Divisional secretary Stanley De Mel said that 40 families (150 members) are leaving St Mary’s and Thallaimannar."Around 150 families who were staying in temporary shelters in schools have been shifted to Fisheries Corporation, as schools are reopening," said Fr. David Vincent Patrick working with an NGO.
The Sri Lankan Government has adopted strict security measures to check the increasing number of people who try to go to India illegally as refugees. These measures have been effective in stopping these people from adopting dangerous means like trying to travel to India.
The government accused the Tigers of using scare-tactics to force people to flee. The Tigers say people are undergoing abuse at the hands of the military and that they actively discourage people-smuggling.
However the smugglers are charging around Rs. 10,000 per passenger in advance. "One night last week around 37 families including women and children fled to India.
"We do not want them to leave their houses or flee to India. People are risking their lives. Eight refugees drowned in the sea in the way to India," Fr. Patrick said. “Families are coming to Mannar from different places in the north and east.
The police should check their Identity cards and tighten security in the sea area so that we can solve the problem of asylum seekers” said Senaka Dissanayake Program Manager of the National Protection and Durable Solutions for IDP’s project. He said that if the government makes camps for internally displaced people far away from the sea they can control people leaving the country.
“If the government and NGO’s start organizing awareness programs for people leaving the country by sea illegally then we might be able to control it,” he added.
Spokesperson for the Indian high commission in Colombo Naghma Malik said they were providing shelter in camps to those who were fleeing to India on humanitarian grounds. However she said the Indian government would like to discourage the influx of refugees from Sri Lanka. She said she did not know the accurate number of refugees in Tamil Nadu now.
The Asia Tribune recently quoted P.M. Amza, Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Chennai, who thanked the Tamil Nadu Government for its generous assistance to Sri Lankan refugees. “We welcome efforts by the Tamil Nadu State Government to improve the quality of the life of the refugees,” he emphasized.
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