FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT TO IDPs/CIVILIANS...?!?

Liberating the Wanni: At whose expense?

Thousands of civilians remain trapped and become pawns of Tigers

By Jamila Najmuddin......courtesy.dailymirror.lk

To say that the situation in Kilinochchi is normal, is far from the truth. While military operations continue in the district, thousands of civilians are forced to flee their homes in order to avoid the battle and save themselves and their children from falling prey to the war.

The government which was well aware of the increasing number of refugees, especially in the Wanni region has reacted to the situation and had not only invited but urged the refugees to cross into government controlled areas, where safety has been assured.

However, despite the guarantee, civilians were unable to move. Having being forced to witness a bloody battle, they remain trapped and have become pawns in this conflict as the LTTE denied them their freedom of movement in order to use them as human shields in the event the security forces move further into the area.

The situation which is far more than what it sounds, has even led to the United Nations reiterating to the LTTE directly, their obligation towards international humanitarian law and has urged them to allow maximum numbers to move into areas they prefer.

The UN which is responsible along with the government and the NGOs in distributing aid and food to the civilians admits that all is not well in the Wanni but adds that the situation currently remains as a humanitarian emergency rather than a humanitarian crisis.

“The current situation in the Wanni is a cause for much concern but it is better than what we expected. Thousands of civilians remain trapped but we have reminded all parties to the conflict their obligation towards humanitarian law. We hope that taking this into consideration, the civilians are allowed their freedom of movement soon,” UN Spokesperson, Gordon Weiss said.

In an interview with Daily Mirror, Weiss added that a large number who were trapped and affected by the conflict in the Wanni were children which is why the situation was a cause for much concern. “Civilians in the area live in fear as a very large number who remain trapped are children. Therefore the civilians are worried about the survival of their young which is why they want to move to safer areas at any cost,” Weiss said.

Taking the matter into consideration, government efforts to remove the civilians from LTTE controlled areas into safer ground cannot be ignored. A day after Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, at a rare media briefing said that steps would be taken to invite the civilians into government controlled areas, action was immediately taken.

During the press briefing Rajapaka assured that as an initial step leaflets would be dropped over Kilinochchi inviting the civilians to cross into government controlled areas – an assurance which was immediately implemented by the Air Force the next day.

Rajapaksa also mentioned that the security forces would soon establish an escape route for the civilians and the ongoing military operations was mainly aimed at freeing the thousands trapped by the LTTE.

He also stressed that once the escape route was established and the civilians safely brought to Vavuniya, they would defeat the LTTE and take control of the Killinochchi District. “Our military plans are going perfectly to what we expected. But before we accomplish our goal fully, we have to take the civilians out as the LTTE has currently trapped thousands of civilians for its personal gain. But as time goes on and the security forces advance further into the north, they will have no choice but to free the civilians. That is what we are expecting,” Rajapaksa told the media.

The military is currently trying its best to establish the escape route for the estimated 200,000 refugees in the Wanni. Just earlier this week, the military said that once an escape route was established, an additional leaflet in the form of a map would be air dropped over Kilinochchi once again so that refugees would know which route to take in order to flee.

The military however refused to divulge the details, stating that if done so right now, there would be a threat of a possible sabotage along the route. “We want the civilians out safely that is why we are working on the escape route and will not divulge it immediately,” the military said.

According to the Defence Secreary the route would be well protected by the security forces who would assist the civilians into Vavuniya safely.

All of Rajapaksa’s words may have been implemented but what is yet to be implemented is improving the health and shelter services in the Wanni according to reports from the NGO’s.

The UN earlier this week admitted that thousands of civilians continued to live in rough conditions and many under trees due to the lack of shelter. However the civilians themselves were trying to find immediate alternate shelters where the women and children could live in hygienic and safe environment, the UN added.

“It is false to say that each civilian is living in a safer temporary house or camp. Due to the large number of civilians, thousands continue to sleep roughly, in Cadjan huts and under trees. However the situation seems to be changing everyday so we are unable to say how many civilians are without shelters right now,” Weiss said.

The government however at a press briefing last week said otherwise and assured that all civilians were living in safe and hygienic shelters with over 90% of the refugees living with friends or relatives. Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasingha himself denied that civilians were sleeping under trees and said that such allegations were only false and fabricated.

Minister Samarasingha also assured that schools would begin to function on September 8 as many schools which had been used to house the displaced had to be re-opened by the time the new school term starts on the said date.

Meanwhile, as reports of a medical disaster seems to surface in the Wanni due to the large number of refugees, the government however said that such reports too were false and fabricated. Supporting their statements, the government said that adequate medicines were reaching the civilians with officials from the Health Ministry also admitting that according to reports by the respective GA’s it was false to say that the medical sector in the Wanni had been hampered.

Drugs may however not be the cause for concern but what truly has hampered the medical sector is the lack of fuel, with even the UN admitting that medical services in the Wanni were suffering due to this reason.

Transporting seriously ill patients from Killinochchi to Vavuniya has raised much concern and ambulances have seized to function in the Killinochchi District.

Meanwhile, according to the UN, since the larger number of refugees who had been affected by the conflict were children, there were reports that malnutrition was on the rise amongst children in the Wanni – an allegation which the government once again denied this week.

However the UN said that many cases of malnutrition had been reported.

The UN also said that although there was no threat of a disease outbreak, the possibility always existed. “It is very unlikely that the refugees in the Wanni are going to suffer from an outbreak of disease but we have noticed that every time there is a concentration of people, the threat always exists. Especially now that the rains have started and many civilians are still without shelters, the threat of an outbreak can grow,” UN’s Weiss said.

Meanwhile, the government indeed has to be commended on their efforts to send adequate food and relief supplies to the trapped refugees with even the UN admitting that there was no immediate shortage.

The government seems to have maintained their word, with the Defence Secretary himself last week guaranteeing that the government would not allow the refugees to starve at any cost.

He stressed that adequate food and relief supplies were made available for the civilians trapped in the Wanni as a lorry containing medicines and dry rations entered Kilinochchi every day. He added that the results were “dead satisfactory” as the government agents in the north had informed the government that ample food and medicines were available for the thousands trapped in the Wanni.

“We are working closely with the UN organizations and it has been confirmed by the respective GAs that the civilians are not starving or suffering from medical shortages,” Rajapaksa said.

According to Essential Services Commissioner, S.B. Divaratna, there are currently 110,000 IDPs in the Kilinochchi District while an estimated 15,000 remained in Mullaitivu.

About 80,000 IDPs (around 20,000 families) from Mannar north, Thunukkai and Pandiyakulam AGA regions had moved into the Kilinochchi district.

Most of them have been housed in 22 schools in Kilinochchi while some have moved in with their relatives.

In the Mullaitivu district over 132,990 persons (around 31,000 families) had been displaced from three to four AGA divisions.

GA Mullaitivu Ms. Emelda Sukumar said there were around 75 villages that have been abandoned due to the fighting in Thunukkai and surrounding areas. The people have moved into the Mullaitivu area and were accommodated in welfare centres.