Refugees pour into east Sri Lanka camps
Source: Reuters
By Simon Gardner COLOMBO, March 10 (Reuters) - Schools became makeshift refugee camps in eastern Sri Lanka on Saturday to handle an influx of more than 30,000 civilians fleeing fighting between the army and Tamil Tigers, officials and aid workers said. The military, which is fighting sporadic artillery and mortar battles with Tiger rebels in the eastern district of Batticaloa, estimated around 32,000 civilians had poured into army-held territory from rebel areas. The Tigers say closer to 40,000 civilians have fled -- but because of army shelling. The exodus piled further strain on a district already housing nearly 90,000 people displaced by fierce fighting. "Now they are opening some schools again for the IDPs (displaced people), public buildings," said Marcal Luethi, a protection officer with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Batticaloa. "If in the next few days several other thousands are coming, then of course we have a problem," Luethi said. Water supplies were a major issue. Refugees flooded out of Tiger-held territory in the east this week as the military drove the rebels out and overran camps in a repeat of an offensive and exodus further north in December. The army says it is freeing civilians and accuses the Tigers of using them as human shields. THOUSANDS DISPLACED The army is now trying to relocate those displaced in the earlier exodus back in their homes in the former rebel enclave of Vakarai further north. That would free up camps to accommodate new refugees. "They are doing their best to push the Vakarai people out immediately," said military spokesman Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe. "They are setting up new camps in Batticaloa." Dozens of people have been killed this week in clashes and attacks. These included a senior army officer and wildlife park officials among eight people found slain in a jungle reserve in the northwestern district of Mannar on Friday. The Tigers this week warned of a bloodbath if the international community was unable to persuade the military to halt a plan to wipe them out. Analysts say there is a danger that a new episode in a two-decade civil war that has killed around 68,000 people since 1983 will worsen. Many Tamils living in Sri Lanka's north and east have already been displaced by the protracted conflict, many able to salvage only a few meagre belongings. The homes of some rebuilt after the 2004 tsunami have been wrecked by artillery shells. "We are extremely alarmed at the new level of displaced," said U.N. mission spokeswoman Orla Clinton. "It's just going to add more pressure to an already very difficult situation." The Tigers say they are fighting for an independent state for minority Tamils in north and east Sri Lanka, which President Mahinda Rajapakse has rejected out of hand. Rights groups are alarmed at a surge in abuses, kidnappings and extrajudicial killings blamed on both sides.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
