Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Colombo (Agenzia Fides) – As peace comes to Sri Lanka, the most serious question remains that of survival, providing for the Tamil refugees who have been the primary victims in the recent months of war.
There are over 300,000 internal refugees, today being forced to struggle for survival amidst the refugee camps organized by the government and humanitarian aid agencies like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Caritas.
The NGOs are working with the local government to carry out an emergency aid plan for the refugees who have fled the area of conflict in recent months. The nearly 300,000 refugees are currently staying in the 40 emergency sites set up in the Districts of Vavuniya, Jaffna, and Trincomalee, as work carries on in the construction of new refugee structures, to distribute non-food items and to monitor protection.
Until now, nearly 8,800 emergency refugee structures have been made and 14,000 tents have been put up, however they are working closely with the civil authorities to better respond to the emergency.
And now, the priority is to cut back on the density of people and improve conditions in the camps, giving stability and preparing for their return to their hometowns. The UNHCR has begun dialoguing closely with the government to ensure freedom of movement for the refugees in the camps. The government has also taken positive steps in entrusting specialized institutions with persons with particular needs, such as the elderly, pregnant women, as well as helping families who were separated during the conflict to be reunited.
Efforts are being made to maintain former guerrillas apart from civilians, so that they may move more freely in and outside of the camps.
The final goal is to normalize the life of the people, assuring them the opportunity to return to their homes as soon as possible. This means that they will have to face various questions: security, mine clearing, and the removal of unexploded devices; verifications to return to villages; reconstruction of damaged homes; reparation of infrastructure; reestablishment of civil administration in the districts and provinces affected by the crisis. One of the tragedies from the war, as Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna noted, was that the Tamil Tigers used civilians as human shields and preventing them from fleeing the danger zones. Today, these people are exhausted and in need of short-term and long-term assistance. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 3/6/2009)
