groundviews » Vaharai starves – International Community is Silent

Vaharai starves – International Community is Silent

January 5, 2007 at 12:00 am · Categories: Peace and Conflict | by Arjunan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Vaharai starves – International Community is Silent

âWe only have enough food for one or two more days,â said TRO Vaharai Director of Operations Mr. Moorthy in a telephone message from Vaharai. âThe people are suffering and there is nothing that we can do due to the SLA embargo on food and medicine.â

The GoSL has not allowed any convoys of food or medicine into the Vaharai area since November 29^th 2006. On that date the UN and ICRC facilitated the transportation of 2 weeks worth of food for the 40,000 IDPs in the area. (UN Press Release of Nov. 30). These supplies have now been exhausted.

There are currently 15,000 IDPs in the Vaharai area that TRO is caring for (UN website with IDP stats):

2,300 families (10,350 persons) in the immediate vicinity of Vaharai (Pictures)
900 families (4,050 persons) in the Eachchilampattu area

TRO appeals to the Government of Sri Lanka, the Government Agent (GA), the ICRC, the UN and the international community to urgently send food and medicine to these IDPs and not to allow food and medicine to be used as a weapon of war.

It is the responsibility of the GoSL and the international community to ensure that these civilians are not made to suffer due to a lack of food, medicine or the threat of bombing or shelling.

TRO calls on the GoSL and the ICRC to declare the area in and around Vaharai Hospital to be a âZone of Peaceâ or âSafe Zoneâ.

A humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Vaharai and the international community should not remain silent any longer.

ENDS

Arjunan Ethirveerasingam

Media Relations TRO (Colombo)

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Des said,

January 5, 2007 @ 1:56 am

Hi Arjunan, I appreciate your post to inform everyone of the situation. I hope everyone concerned takes note and takes immediate measures to end this suffering. It would be good to see posts from some people in relief agencies who have been involved in sending relief into Vaharai recently instead of staying silent. ICRC, CHA, Sarvodaya, etc, please dont sleep but come out and post on websites such as this one. If you dont want to mention your organization name, then so be it, but post anyway.

I wont disagree with you that there is a human tragedy and immense suffering currently going on in Vaharai. I am just curious as to why you take a tone that seems to blame the government for the situation in Vaharai and haven’t mentioned the responsibilities of the LTTE. Do you feel that recent efforts by the government to allow in convoys to Vaharai have been insignificant and not worth mentioning?

Nevertheless thanks again, and hope you post more information more often.

Arjunan said,

January 5, 2007 @ 2:41 am

Dear Des,
Thank you for your comments.
For your infomation NO NGOs have been allowed by the GOSL to go to Vaharai since August / September. The UN & ICRC were allowed “day trips” of 4 hours up until late November. THEY CURRENTLY HAVE NO ACCESS TO THE AREA. TRO is the ONLY organization with a continuous presence in Vaharai.

I wish to clear up your claim of “blame” on the government and your suggestion that the “recent efforts by the government to allow convoys to Vaharai have been insignificant and not worth mentioning.”

1) In the 2nd paragraph of the press release it is CLEARLY STATED that the GOSL allowed a convoy in on Nov 29 with 2 weeks worth of food. THAT IS THE LAST CONVOY that was allowed in by the GOSL. Are you suggesting that i laud the fact that the GOSL has only allowed access to these IDPs once in the past month?

2) Blame for the situation in Vaharai: It is not for me to ascribe blame to anyone. I can only relate to you the facts. a) the LTTE have stated numerous times that they would like the SLMM, ICRC, iNGOs, etc to have unfettered access to Vaharai., b) the GOSL has not given approval for these orgs to access Vaharai, c) the TRO IDP camps have been shelled by GOSL forces – TRO staff in these camps categorically state that there was no LTTE presence or firing from these camps. d) the LTTE has requested that these camps be declared safe zones, e) TRO has requested BOTH the LTTE and the GOSL to declare the camps as “Safe Zones” and have the presence of international staff/observers in these camps 24 hours a day.

These are the facts you must judge.

Respectfully,

Des said,

January 5, 2007 @ 3:49 am

Thanks Arjunan, this is no doubt a difficult environment for your organization to be doing relief work in and I wish you good luck and god speed and that your appeal reaches the right people.

I thought there were about 11 NGOs that were involved in the 1 or 2 convoys that went in with supplies? I was referring to them when I was requesting that they post their experiences and their information as well.

In any case I feel there is very little discussion and information coming out from the NGOs and the UN organizations working in the country and Groundviews now offers the opportunity to change that.
So this is to the hundreds of NGOs in this country with the highly paid foreign managers – please blog what information you have instead of sitting on it. If you are blogging, please point me to such blog addresses.

Grant Green said,

January 6, 2007 @ 10:51 pm

At the risk of sounding impudent in such circumstances, besides asking international agencies to feed/help those affected, what are the freedom fighters doing to feed those they claim to represent, to the exculsion of others, while they feed their ranks, wage war on civilians, do their utmost to stoke viloent retaliations and tax those who live within and without the territories to which they lay claim?

The author’s tone in the article is markedly anti-government, even if he may grudgingly acknowledge they did allow food/assistance of some means to get through not too long ago. I get the sinking sense the TRO are yet another mouthpiece for the tigers.

It is beyond the pale of all concerned (and I use the term widely, beyond the two antagonists in this conflict) to use the misery of those caught in the cross-fire to further partisan agendas. Alas, this is not something unique to the present conflict………….

colombo tamil said,

January 8, 2007 @ 2:44 am

Grant, are you comparing a “non-state actor”, the LTTE, to a government…??
are you comparing a military organization to a government…???

if you know anything about internatonal humanitarian law and international human rights law you would realize, whether you like it or not, that governments and non-state actors are held to different standards…

one reason for this is the amount of resources available to governments as opposed to non-state actors…

i’m sure if the LTTE where recieving 1/10 of the aid that the GOSL is reciving that the would be easily able to feed the IDPs…

but when the area under their control is under an embargo how do you expect them to bring food and medicine in to the area…?

“wage war on civilians…” ???
the LTTE???

isn’t it the GOSL that is bombing and shelling the civilian IDPs and herding them first to the south to vaharai and now to valaichenai…???

the amount of tamil civilians killed by GOSL forces or affiliated partners is about 100 times higher than the LTTE caused civilian causlaties… you think the few bus bombs causualties (horrible though they are and must be condemned as ALL civilian killings must be) equate to over 1000 tamil civilians killed this year due to disappearance, shelling, bombing, extra-judicail execution…???

if the original posts author’s tone, as you state is “markedly anti-government” because he/she states the facts as they are, then wouldn’t your post be considered “markedly PRO-government” because i you are critical of the LTTE…???

it is easy to discount the views of the TRO as being “yet another mouthpiece for the tigers,” and thus making it easy for you and others not to address the specific FACTS and ISSUSES raised in the post…

the TRO is ON the ground, and everything cited in the TRO person’s posts is fact and verifiable via the media or international observers… so, why not comment on why the GOSL continues to deny access to the IDPs in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law…???

JustMal said,

January 8, 2007 @ 5:09 am

I think the government and international aid agencies are willing and able to provide humanitarian supplies to these people. The problem is that the LTTE insists unconditional opening of highways and that the aid must be channelled through TRO, which many believe to be a fundraising and propaganda front of the tigers.

It’s the LTTE that does not allow aid convoys to pass through. It’s the LTTE that forcibly keeps the civilians from fleeing into government held areas where they would be safe and have their essential needs taken care of.

colombo tamil said,

January 8, 2007 @ 8:22 am

JustMal, please cite your sources…

all international agencies have stated without qualification that it is the GOSL that has not opened the checkpoints…

stop trying to obsfucate the issue…

don’t you live in australia…? what do you know of the situation in Vaharai or Sri Lanka???

Ellaalan Sankilisolan said,

January 8, 2007 @ 11:55 pm

Knowing the unfolding tragedy in Vakarai through the UN reports as well as Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA) reporting and others it is unfortunate to know that the GoSL sent supplies for only two weeks on November 29, 2006 which the people of Vakarai have used sparingly until now! It has been 1month and 11 days since then and the food was meant for only two weeks! We need to get food in there as soon as possible without arguing over whether the GoSL or LTTE has to do it. It is the GoSL that asks not to be treated equally with the LTTE in the same manner. It is the GoSL that says it is democratic even though it is voted in almost solely by the Sinhalese majority. Unfortunately for the Tamil people of the Northand East the GoSL has international legitimacy and hence must be held to a higher standard and so it would be the GoSL’s responsibility to make sure that adequet supply of food is sent to Vakarai and also to the peninsula. There is a shortfall of around 10, 400 metric tonnes of food to the Jaffna peninsula ever since the closure of the A9 by the GoSL till the end of 2006. Aid agencies and the international community needs to pressure the GoSL to sent food to its own people. The GoSL says it wants to defend the whole country but seems to be lacking in willingness to feed all people in SL. When will the international community and others actually come to a realization that this war is about two ethnic groups?

Des said,

January 9, 2007 @ 1:10 am

Appreciate reading everyone’s posts!
What confuses me is when the LTTE wants to be considered a state-level actor at times and why it is considered a non-state actor by some such as Colombo Tamil at other times. What I mean is that the LTTE is very keen to do everything on an equal basis with the government such as peace talks and PTOMs. But wouldn’t it be better for the LTTE to consistently plead its case as a non-state actor.

Anyway, more importantly on Vakarai, if 2 weeks of supplies were allowed in on Dec 29, can we assume that there is some basic food reaching the people until Jan 13?

So Arjunan, if you can, and I don’t mean to be insensitive to the suffering of the people there, would be great to know how much of basic food was allowed in on Dec 29 and realistically how many people it can feed, just to allay fears of many such as the military that the LTTE in Vakarai is not living off that as well.
I am guessing the military is concerned that it is also feeding the LTTE and therefore would weigh that against sending in more supplies for the people.

Or is that only to be expected and is that justified?

While we can feel for Tamil people living in a war situation, lets also try and see the situation of the government which has to defend people against terrible bus bombings and assasinations, respond to past terror acts and be seen to be doing something. Lets not forget Kabithigollewa where 64 civilians were killed including 15 schoolchildren in a bus (June 2006)

This is also where the LTTE killing a good 150 plus military intelligence and other people DURING the PROPER ceasefire right after it was signed seemed to me a sign of bad faith, and I have not yet heard a reason why they had to do so.

I truly thought Ranil Wickremesinghe did a lot to take off embargoes and reduce security measures to the north and east, but soon afterwards there were people being picked off and killed everywhere. Anyone knows the background to this?

Des said,

January 9, 2007 @ 1:22 am

Sorry for reading the post wrong as last convoy sent in on Dec 29, when it was Nov 29. Maybe that part of my comment can be deleted to reduce confusion for anyone else reading it. Thanks

colombo tamil said,

January 9, 2007 @ 2:39 am

the original post has the link to the UN press release on the amount of food etc… don’t be lazy des do a little reading… or are your questions meant to deflect and change the argument… http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20789&Cr=sri&Cr1=lanka

what does this have to do with anything:
“While we can feel for Tamil people living in a war situation, lets also try and see the situation of the government which has to defend people against terrible bus bombings and assasinations, respond to past terror acts and be seen to be doing something. Lets not forget Kabithigollewa where 64 civilians were killed including 15 schoolchildren in a bus (June 2006)”

these things have nothing to do with the responsiblity of both parties to respect and adhere to the international humanitarian and human rights law vis a vis the IDPs in vaharai… as stated by the UN in yesterday’s press release:
“We urgently expect the parties to adhere to their responsibilities under international humanitarian law to ensure protection of civilians and their freedom of movement, and unimpeded and secure access for international humanitarian actors to the north and east of the country”
(http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=20582)

the two issues are separate, don’t try and deflect the GOSL war crime in vaharai by bringing up time bombs (which may or may not have anything to do with the LTTE) in the south…

JustMal said,

January 9, 2007 @ 7:36 am

Yes the government will not open highways or checkpoints for civilian traffic. I support that decision because national security and the war effort is more imporant that the difficulties of a few people.

However, the government has tried numerous times to send aid convoys through without opening the roads for other traffic. LTTE has not allowed them except for a couple of times insisting that the roads must be opened unconditionally and any aid should be granted through the TRO, which is its money laundering arm.

More importantly, it is the LTTE that is mainly responsible for the plight fo the civilians in Vaharai, because if they let them cross over to the government held cleared areas instead of holding them at gun point as human shields, they wouldn’t face any of these difficulties.

(AP) The refugees say that they took this desperate action because the rebels did not let them leave, even after more than 50 people were killed by government shelling into Vaharai and several neighboring rebel-held villages in Batticaloa.

“The Tigers did not let us go. They shot in the air to scare us or threatened that we will be locked up,” said a man who identified himself as Kandasamy, a father of six. He did not give his full name fearing reprisals.

The United Nations last week said some 35,000 people were trapped in the fighting and asked the separatist Tamil Tigers to allow people to move to safer areas.

Des said,

January 11, 2007 @ 2:54 am

Hi Colombo Tamil,

While I can totally understand what you are saying about situation the people are facing there and the need to rescue them, seeing this issue in isolation might not be very helpful.

If you ask what the military or people who support the current military action in Vakarai think, they will say that the action is a result of the threat by the LTTE to Trinco, people living in the area, and general LTTE belligerence.

They will say that, while they feel for the people in Vakarai, they have no choice but to take military action to crush the LTTE which they see as a ruthless terrorist organization that has restarted bombing buses and killing civilians and children.

Understanding the different perspectives can hold some answers as to how to react to these situations. To accuse the government or military of not caring about civilians gets their backs up. If you notice their press releases and statements, they make a lot of effort to say that convoys were allowed in, that shipments are being sent to Jaffna, and arrangements have now been made for shipments from India, etc etc.

Why? Because I believe all people have a sense of care and responsibility to others and they will respond when needed to. But their response is going to be muted if they are accused of not bothering to show any care and responsibility.

So appealing to their human side might be the best way for the TRO to meet the needs of people there. Ofcourse what I am saying here is simplified, but hope you get the gist of it. Appealing to the international community will also annoy the hell out of those who support this military action, this is something I have gathered.

Ofcourse the government accusing the TRO of being the money laundering arm of the LTTE does not help in any way, but thats why this is a cycle of violence.

We have to find ways to break out of it.

colombo tamil said,

January 16, 2007 @ 9:34 am

des,
the GOSL and it’s military give lip service to the feeding and care and avoidance of injury and death to civilians SO AS TO PLACATE THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ONLY…

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