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Sri Lanka patients tell of shooting, shelling and trapped relatives
Written by: MSF in Asia
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Tamil Thebora, (L) a one-year-old girl who was injured in northeastern Sri Lanka's war zone, sits on a bed in the Lady Ridgeway hospital in Colombo, as he mother stands nearby, Feb. 25, 2009. Additional information on where the girl is from and how she was injured was blocked by a hospital official who said that all 15 children who came to this hospital from the war zone were injured because of Tamil Tiger rebel fire.
REUTERS/Nir Elias
REUTERS/Nir Elias
As heavy fighting continues in northern Sri Lanka, over 200,000 civilians remain trapped in the conflict in the Vanni region. But, over the past few weeks, some 35,000 people have managed to flee to the city of Vavuniya, 80 km south of the conflict zone. They tell of a beleaguered population living under constant threat of shelling and surrounded by the bodies of the dead and wounded. Food and drinking water are scare, and there is almost no access to medical care. Here are some of their stories. Patient 1: A risky escape Five-year-old R. lies asleep on the hospital bed. His eight-year-old sister lays her head on the bed and stares blankly ahead of her. The little boy is suffering from a gunshot wound in his leg. A dressing has been tightly wrapped around it. The family arrived at the hospital on Feb. 8 after fleeing the conflict zone. Both the father and son had been shot at by soldiers in the panic and chaos of crossing frontlines to reach government-controlled areas. The family was trapped for weeks in the rebel-held pocket. Forced to flee because of constant shelling, they were displaced several times. From Mankulam, they fled to Udayarkaddu, where they spent ten days under daily shellfire, hiding in bunkers they dug for themselves in the ground. "It was terrifying. People got killed every day. We had no water, no food, no drugs," recounts his mother. By that time, there was no money left. Her teacher's salary had not been paid for two weeks. "When my daughter got sick, we realised we had to get out of the bunker to get some medicines. It was very dangerous. Every day we asked my husband what would happen to us. Would we just stay and die here?" Knowing the army wanted the population to reach a transit camp in Visuvamadhu, the family crossed the frontlines with a large group of people. To flee faster, they decided to leave on motorbikes. "People ran with a white flag towards the government-held area. We were on separate motorbikes. I was behind with my daughter and my husband was ahead of us with my son. The soldiers were surprised and shot both my husband and son before they realised we were just civilians fleeing the conflict zone." When the soldiers realised, they sent the family to an army hospital from where they were transferred to Vavuniya for emergency treatment. Her husband is being treated in the next ward. Patient 2: Shelled and shelled again C., aged 15, was injured in the conflict area when a shell fell close to the bunker where she and her family were hiding. All the family's four children were wounded, but she sustained the most serious injuries. Thrown out onto the side of the road by the blast, the girl called for help. Around her, everybody was running in panic as the shelling continued. Only after the third attack were her cries for help heard. "There were three consecutive shelling attacks and it took three hours before my daughter could be rescued by some youngsters," explains her mother. C. was transported to a local hospital but by that time she had lost a lot of blood. She needed to be referred to PTK hospital, the only health structure in the conflict area with the capacity to provide emergency care. "The hospital was shelled too, the blasts were terrifying. Now that we have reached Vavuniya hospital and are safe, I still can't stop jumping every time something falls on the floor," the mother admits. On the bed, her teenage daughter is crying. Her leg is immobilised in a thick dressing and she tries in vain to find a position on the bed that will ease the pain. Her mother strokes her hair, trying to comfort her while gently redoing her plaits. After all, not so long ago C. was just an ordinary schoolgirl. Wounded on Jan. 11, she did not manage to reach Vavuniya hospital until two weeks later, when the Red Cross was able to evacuate seriously injured patients after the hospital was repeatedly shelled. Her left leg has sustained skin damage and her right leg has bad fractures. The bone structure of the pelvis and her thigh was also damaged. Part of her leg had to be repositioned. The surgery was extremely painful, and her left leg is now shorter, leaving her with a limp for the rest of her life. "I'm not crying because of the pain, but because my brothers and sisters are still in the conflict zone," she explains in broken sentences. Her mother, like most people who have made it to government-held areas, is staying in a transit camp. She is desperately searching for her family and trying to get any information she can about her children left behind. Patient 3: Nowhere safe to go D., an extremely thin woman, is lying immobile with several dressings on her stomach. She is suffering from an abdominal injury after being wounded by shrapnel. She peers anxiously from under her arm folded over her face, as if to protect herself. By her side, her 53-year-old mother tells how they were asked to go to Vavipunam in the safe zone on Jan. 19. A few days later, artillery shelling began. "There was no food and no water. We had left our bunkers in the morning to go to the paddy field to try and get some food, when the shelling started. Out of the 15 family members that were there, three were killed on the spot. In total, 25 people were wounded." "We took my daughter to a local hospital but that too was shelled. Then we moved to PTK hospital and there again we were attacked." D. was evacuated by the Red Cross on Jan. 29. Her brother, also wounded, was sent to Vavuniya and then to Mannar hospital. To free up beds in Vavuniya hospital, patients with minor injuries are being referred to other health structures. On top of being in a lot of pain, the distress of having no news about other family members is almost unbearable. "The rest of the family is trapped in the Vanni. We were under daily attacks and the fighting still continues. D.'s three-year-old is still in the conflict zone. Her grandfather is now looking after her, or so we think. We don't know if they are alive, wounded or if they have managed to get out. Imagine how we feel." Medical organisation Medecins sans Frontieres is providing nutritional support and distributing basic relief items to people staying in the government-run camps in Vavuniya. In the hospital, an MSF surgeon, alongside Ministry of Health medical staff, has operated on over 300 patients in the past two weeks. Around 90 percent of the injuries, including gunshot and shrapnel wounds, are a direct result of the fighting. MSF urgently calls on both parties of the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians and allow them access to humanitarian assistance.
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17 responses to “Sri Lanka patients tell of shooting, shelling and trapped relatives”
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02 Mar 2009 22:04:05 GMT
No hospital should operate outside the Safety Zone...everything beyond the safety is a legitimate target," Sri Lanka's Defense Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapakse tells the Skynews, admitting to the culpability of Sri Lanka Army shelling Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital. Why the International Community not using its influence over Sri Lanka to stop this atrocity. If the UN had objected to the demand by the Sri Lankan government to leave the LTTE controlled area in September 2008 and stayed on this would not have happened. More than 2000 civilians would have been saved. The UN can still do more, take food and medicine to the so-called safe zones. Or at least arrange of for the transport of the Tamil doctors from Norway and Australia who volunteered to go there.
02 Mar 2009 22:04:37 GMT
It is heartwrenching to hear of Tamil civilian plight. It is even more heartbreaking to see the pictures of babies who suffer the most. The Sri Lankan government must immediately help these most brutalized people with everything they need.
02 Mar 2009 22:06:13 GMT
It is surprise that no civilians shot by LTTE when they were trying to escape from LTTE controlled area to Sri Lanka government controlled area. There are thousands of them in hospitals. They openly say how LTTE open fired at them when they were fleeing. This is the role western media play these days. Truth is this tactic will not stop the suffering of Tamil people trapped in LTTE-controlled area, and will not stop Sri Lankan government of seizing the remaining small area. The only thing that these kind of reporting can do is making people who sympathetic to LTTE feel sad, and agents who fill their pockets by "victim industry" feel good. This will never change the truth and will never heal the problem. This is common to all over the world. Tell the truth. This is 21st century. People in those countries are listening not only to western media, and they don't care what the West is saying anymore.
02 Mar 2009 22:07:09 GMT
This is a harrowing story. The evidence indicates that civilians are being repeatedly shelled by the Sri Lankan army that is ostensibly trying to "liberate" them by moving them to concentration camps. Is there no way to stop this?
03 Mar 2009 03:18:20 GMT
I like to thank for those report neutral and also serve humanitarian way in the affected areas.
It looks as only a handful of people are reporting neutrally and prepared to help the voiceless and helpless Tamils trapped in Vanni now. Even most of the people who have fled is due to unrest in Sri Lanka. Hope GOSL will change their behaviour for the betterment of the Country and spare Tamils lives and work towards peace. Its really sad on those who supports the GOSL as they are not exerting pressure to return to normalcy03 Mar 2009 03:23:38 GMT
It appears the "human shield" is a Sri Lankan invention to "shield" Sri Lanka's own ethnic cleansing intentions.
Why on earth the UN is proposing and/or going along with the Government of Sri Lanka to uproot the Tamil civilians in their homes and livelihoods and put them inside barbed wired camps? This is an unprecedented move by UN. UN and international community must not allow the Tamil people to be uprooted. It is inhuman and cruel.03 Mar 2009 03:27:03 GMT
The world should pressurize ruthless LTTE to release civilians held as hostages and as a human shield to protect high profile terror leaders. Teh world should understand that Sri Lanka military is well within crushing a terrorist group. They deserve this treatment but according to news they are taking maximum efforts to safeguard the civilians but everyone must understand that there could be civilian casualties and the blame should go to LTTE for keeping them by force. Had SL has used it's air power, this war has been over months back !!! We hope to have this war ended as early as possible by crushing terrorism from our tiny motherlad.
03 Mar 2009 03:28:10 GMT
Why does the SL government 'block' or blackout the information to the outside world? Every reporter who talked to the wounded or IDP writes that the soldiers watch watch what is said. The fact that the only war that is denied access to media reporters make it obvious that the government has a lot to hide from the world eye.
03 Mar 2009 17:04:47 GMT
It is the moral responsibility of the Journalists to bring the truth out. Even when the Sri Lankan government gags the patients, the true journalist investigate beyond the statements given by the spin doctors, and highlight the true situation of the victims. Well done reuter.
03 Mar 2009 17:05:14 GMT
thanks MSF for bringing the truth to the world. Sri Lankan governemnt, specifically defense secretary is guilty of war crimes for his comments about bombing hospital is a legetimate target. International community should bring sanctions against Sri Lanka until it stops the killing of innocent civilians.
03 Mar 2009 17:06:57 GMT
dear david ,saleem and msf, simply dust your golden brain and try to understand 1)this is war.( like the one in iraq,afganistan kasmir etc) 2)one side has to win (other wise it is called game for fun) 3) when ltte was wining about 70000 people died but the counting continued but no body botherd to burn themself for the same sri lankan tamils
4) now army is wining and only about 1000 thousand people have estimated died ( let say end of the war 10000 people died ) and the counting stop isnt it good? so if you want to reduce the number of killed people 1)help the army to locate the terrorist. 2)tell the terrorist to anounce a 48 hour period for the willing civilians to escape under the msf or icrc suppervision .( those dont to be uprooted can stay) BUT if you want to prevent the death of prabhaharan or the other terrorist 1) Too bad and Too late 2) Pray the you God and see (oops The sun is the one is in trouble)03 Mar 2009 17:08:48 GMT
UN by trying to fund and help SL govt ethnic cleansing refugee camps in Srilanka is committing a great mistake to mankind. Help should go always through NGOs and Camps for fleeing refugees should be run NGO volunteers no military persons should be allowed inside these camps. Media out fits in Srilanka are banned from visiting conflict areas many journalist working for local and foreign news media are killed by govt armed groups in Srilanka in the past. Only a group of govt supported journalist are allowed to report with stories of LTTE shootings and all the civilian sufferings and deaths are not reported out side the world. MSF and IRC are doing a great service under a very dangerous and difficult condition to the very badly affected civilians. From the four thousand badly injured civilians transported by them from conflict areas more than half of them are children and thousands of dead are also women children and elderly in the conflict areas.
All peace loving nations and the international society should work together to stop this deadly ethnic cleansing war immediately and help to work out a political solution with peace in Srilanka.03 Mar 2009 17:15:11 GMT
I lived in deep south during the JVP period and knew that how Govt. killed thousand of innocent youths ( one of my friend and his brother burnt to death) for no reasons. If this Govt. did for their own people, I cannot imagine the treatment for poor tamil innocents. let all media to the vanni and expose the atrocities to the world.
04 Mar 2009 00:01:28 GMT
Don���t believe everything the President Rajapussa says.
LTTE is not holding anyone. Don���t Separate Tamil population and LTTE. LTTE don���t have foreign fighters as some fanatic groups do. They are born among Tamils. Why do you expect anyone to leave their land when their kin is fighting for their freedom? What do you expect from a refugee in government interment camp surrounded by government soldiers will say?. They will say what the govt wants to hear right?. We all know what happens to people who say anything against the SL govt. Govt should remove the ban on Journalist and Aid workers in LTTE controlled area, so they could bring the truth out.04 Mar 2009 15:41:02 GMT
If the govt genuine, they should allow journlist aid workers and welcome the NGOs. The international community know fully well what the government is doing and they do not want to take any action since it does not affect them directly. If internationaly community wants to help the humanity it should stop giving financial and miltary aid.
It is cruel UN and international community allow Sri Lanka govenment to vipe out Tamils from the island and do ethnic cleansing.04 Mar 2009 15:57:13 GMT
If the govt genuine, they should allow journlist aid workers and welcome the NGOs. The international community know fully well what the government is doing and they do not want to take any action since it does not affect them directly. If internationaly community wants to help the humanity it should stop giving financial and miltary aid.
It is cruel UN and international community allow Sri Lanka govenment to vipe out Tamils from the island and do ethnic cleansing.07 Mar 2009 12:30:16 GMT
Whatever said and done, one day truth will come out. Leaders, who are responsible of taking the lives of innocent people for sake of their own life, may think that they are smart. But, when the sin of this makes their family and their generation becomes disabled, then it will be too late for them to realize they have done the mistake. Look the generation of former Sri Lankan presidents, you may able to judge. Sinhala Leaders have to long way to go with current world trend. This suits to India as well.