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ICRC appeals for urgent aid for wounded civilians

From inside war zone: Hours after the military announced it has wiped out the military capabilities of the LTTE, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) made an urgent appeal for wounded civilians in the war zone to be given medical care.

In a statement, the ICRC, the only international agency present inside the war zone but for the last three days before Eelam IV was declared over, said for nine consecutive days the ICRC had been pursuing efforts to reach the area of north-eastern Sri Lanka hard hit by fighting in recent weeks.

It said the ICRC had been unable to obtain first-hand information about the needs of civilians and wounded people and though thousands of civilians had fled the conflict zone in the past days and weeks, the ICRC remained concerned about the wounded needing urgent medical care.

“Under international humanitarian law, the lives of all those who are not or are no longer fighting must be spared. Wounded and sick people must be collected and cared for immediately, and detainees must be treated humanely,” said ICRC’s director of operations, Pierre Krähenbühl, from the ICRC’s headquarters in Geneva. “This is all the more urgent since no humanitarian aid has reached those who need it for over a week.”

The ICRC has proposed to the authorities that it will help evacuate any remaining civilians from the area where fighting has been taking place, care for the sick and wounded, and provide emergency assistance for the displaced.

Separately, China on Monday sent the first batch of humanitarian aid to the internally displaced people in Sri Lanka. A statement by the Sri Lankan government said Senior Presidential Adviser Basil Rajapaksa, MP, accepted the consignment of 6,300 tents handed over by China’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka Yang Xiuping.

“$ 3 million worth of tents donated by China will be delivered to Sri Lanka in four batches. Three more chartered planes with the rest are to arrive in the country shortly. Chinese Ambassador said the two countries enjoy longstanding friendly ties and China expects to provide more assistance to Sri Lanka. China sincerely hopes that Sri Lanka achieve economic development and also realise national reconciliation in a short time,” said Ms. Yang.

In another development, outgoing U.S. Ambassador Robert O. Blake paid a farewell call on Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama. “Ambassador Blake informed the Minister that he had arrived in Sri Lanka at a time when the security forces had commenced their operations against the LTTE following the closure of the Mavil Aru sluice gates in July 2006. He noted that he was completing his assignment in the country at a historic moment, when the LTTE has been militarily defeated,” said the Foreign Ministry.

It said he told the Minister that the U.S. would continue to support Sri Lanka’s humanitarian relief efforts for the large number of civilians who had been displaced by the conflict in the North. He hoped that these people would be provided with the best possible care in the IDP centres and welfare villages, until their resettlement in their original places of habitation.

Meanwhile, the pro-LTTE TamilNet launched a no-holds-barred attack on the government and the international community hours after the LTTE lost the battle completely.

In a report the website said: “Although they initially claimed that the objective of the war was to defeat the LTTE, they have in fact killed and wounded several thousands of innocent Tamil civilians with heavy weapons. They used chemical weapons and cluster bombs on innocents, but they continue to deny the usage of such weapons”.

“This war has claimed more than fifty thousands lives just within the last few months but the Sri Lankan government is not going to open their mouth and tell this truth to the world. United Nations, who is supposed to be a guardian for the oppressed people in the world, turned out to be a silent spectator of a man made disaster that has taken the lives of many thousands”.

Posing the question “What Next”, it went on to say: “When the rocket scientists designed highly complex derivatives and greedy traders traded these new emperors cloths, many investment banks collapsed. Pension funds lost money. Bankers committed suicide. The whole financial disaster was caused by greedy and selfish individuals who had short term hidden agendas. We took action. Greedy bankers and traders were taken to courts. New rules and regulations are now in place to prevent this happening again. In the same way, the masters of this war in Sri Lanka should be brought to justice”.

In another development, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leader V. Anandasangaree in a letter addressed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi congratulated him on the victory of DMK and its allies in the general election. “The people of Tamil Nadu have given you a mandate for the firm stand you took on the Sri Lankan ethnic issue, by giving you a majority of the seats in Tamil Nadu. I take great pleasure in congratulating you.

“It is the common interest that we had for our people that brought us together 33 years back in 1976 and the time has come now to renew our friendship again for a similar purpose. I will be paying a visit to you soon to congratulate you in person.”

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