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Sri Lanka

UN humanitarian chief arrives in Sri Lanka seeking increased humanitarian access

(Colombo, New York, 26 April 2009): United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes arrived in Colombo this morning at the start of a two-day visit to Sri Lanka.

In the course of his visit, Mr. Holmes will meet with representatives from the Government of Sri Lanka, the humanitarian country team, civil society and the donor community. Mr. Holmes will again raise extreme concerns about civilian casualties from the fighting and the need to get the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped in the conflict zone out of harm's way without further loss of life.

He will underscore the urgent need for access by the United Nations Country Team to the conflict zone in the northeast, which the President of Sri Lanka agreed to during the recent visit of the Secretary-General's Chef de Cabinet Mr. Vijay Nambiar, and to the screening centres through which tens of thousands of IDPs are passing on their way to the camps.

"The months of fighting during which the inhabitants of the conflict zone have been trapped have taken a terrible toll among the civilian population," Mr. Holmes said. "I call on the LTTE with all the urgency I can to let out the remaining civilian population and lay down their arms; and on the Government to exercise maximum restraint including no use of heavy weapons. We need a new humanitarian pause to get aid and aid workers into the combat zone. We must have access to all IDPs wherever they are, including in the conflict zone, and the screening process must also be made more transparent," said Mr. Holmes.

Currently, while there is good access to the camps themselves, the UN and ICRC have access only to the screening point in Omanthai, where they are not allowed to interview those present, not to earlier screening processes in and around Killinochchi, and the UN have no access to the conflict zone. With overcrowding an increasing problem in the existing IDP camps, Mr. Holmes will also urge that civilians who have been screened be given the chance to leave those camps and to rely on friends and family elsewhere if they so wish. The early release of the inhabitants and freedom of movement are core standards which must not be denied.

Mr. Holmes will also raise with the Government the issue of the 13 UN staff members currently being prevented from leaving IDP camps, despite repeated promises from the Government to the UN that they will be released.

Finally, Mr. Holmes will review with the Government, the international aid agencies and donors the major humanitarian operation under way to help approximately 200,000 civilians who have escaped from the combat zone over the last three months. Ends/. United Nations Office of the Resident / Humanitarian Coordinator Colombo, Sri Lanka

United Nations, Office of the UN Resident /Humanitarian Coordinator
202-204 Bauddhaloka Mawatha - P.O.Box 1505, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka
Telephone: +94 (1) 583805 - Fax: +94 (1) 581116 or 589691 - Internet: fo.lka@undp.org

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