UN RUSHING AID TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS TRAPPED IN SRI LANKA FIGHTING

UN RUSHING AID TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS TRAPPED IN SRI LANKA FIGHTING
New York, Jan 26 2009 2:10PM
The United Nations and other aid agencies are working to urgently provide humanitarian aid to some 250,000 civilians trapped in areas of northern Sri Lanka where fighting continues between Government forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA), nearly 5,000 people have managed to cross the zones held by the LTTE to Government-controlled areas since late November.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (<"http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home">UNHCR) has taken the lead in formulating guidance for assistance to accommodate internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing from the Vanni region.

The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sri Lanka has urged the Government to ensure timely and transparent registration of new arrivals, following which the IDPs should be allowed to stay with host families or move to existing Welfare Centres, where their freedom of movement would be guaranteed.

Since early October, some 519 trucks have transported over 8,000 tons of food from the UN World Food Programme (<"http://beta.wfp.org/">WFP), as well as water and sanitation materials, school supplies, clothing and household goods supplied by the UN Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF) and UNHCR.

The 11th UN humanitarian convoy of 61 trucks was dispatched from the northern town of Vavuniya on 16 January.
Jan 26 2009 2:10PM
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