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Graphed from data on Reuters Alertnet, the chart above covers the period from 21.9.2006 to 10.5.2007.
It’s an wretched contest to be in, but over the past couple of months, reportage on Sri Lanka’s humanitarian crises have on several occasions overshadowed that of Darfur. What does this war mean to the people behind the statistics?
I graphed this after chancing upon an old Groundviews post of mine, Maps of Shame.
The photo above was taken at a busy intersection in Colombo.
How much are we willing to sacrifice to root out the LTTE? Are they the only terrorists in Sri Lanka? What of the President’s own countenance of human rights abuses? What about the allegations of child conscription in the East? What about the President’s brother and his behaviour? Does anyone in this government have their children fighting this war (apart from we all know who, now comfortably residing in England)? Why doesn’t the JVP mobilise its young supporters to go fight and win the war? Why doesn’t at least one monk from the JHU immolate himself to support the violence that they …
Shot this with my mobile, caught up in a massive traffic jam in Kirulapona. A dangerous & delicious irony here.
“Partly it was a sort of hymn to the wisdom and majesty of Big Brother, but still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness…” from 1984.
This from the FMM today:
Internet facilities and 8,000 telephones cut off in Jaffna Peninsula
The Free Media Movement (FMM) is deeply disturbed to learn that basic communications facilities to the Jaffna Peninsula have been blocked from 28th January 2007. Internet facilities and around 8,000 landline telephones of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) are dysfunctional to date. SLT, jointly owned by the Sri Lankan Government and Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corporation (NTT) of Japan, is the sole Internet provider in Jaffna Peninsula with a population of around 600,000 according to official statistics.
The FMM was told that there is no official decision by the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority to block communications in this manner in the Peninsula.
However, a number of citizens in Jaffna and journalists …
A post here points to a powerful new report on the dangers on humanitarian aid work in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.
Reports in Groundviews, both from Citizen Journalists as well as news snippets from JNW featured on the site, clearly indicate growing concerns about the security and safety of aid workers, increasingly assaulting, vilified and killed for being perceived to be partial to non-state actors, biased towards operations of terrorists and / or acting to undermine the ânational securityâ of the State.
This is the first report I’ve read that comprehensively debunks the myth that local INGO / NGO / staff and humanitarian aid workers are any less vulnerable to attacks. As it notes:
Humanitarian organisations …
Two posts on DBS Jeyraj’s blog highlight aspects of the humanitarian crisis in the North and the East already flagged here.
Civilians in Vaakarai face death and starvation
Displaced Tamils face difficulties in Bâcaloa
Coupled with the severe displacement of civilians on account of the recent landslides in the Hill Country, Sri Lanka in 2007 seems ill-geared to handle human displacement of this magnitude. Important to remember however, is that while landslides are natural disasters, the current displacement in the North and East is the result of a botched peace process, which shows no signs of resurrection this year.
Got this in my email today - paints a bleak picture of the North and East of Sri Lanka. Don’t know to whom this situation update goes to, but I’m sure there must be many like it that collaborate the findings noted in this report.
Security situation is tense and the level of threat is high in the areas where fighting occurs in the North and East, including in the districts of Killinochchi and Mulathivu due to possible air strikes. Exchange of shelling between the LTTE and the SLA continues. Security is tightened in towns with large presence of military and Police. Restriction of movements into the affected areas is still in force in Jaffna and essential movements are only allowed …
The south is in turmoil after bombs in buses. Allegedly the work of the LTTE, it’s bringing home, once again, the terror & anxiety that many of us thought we had left behind after the Ceasefire Agreement in 2002. Over 20 people have died in the two attacks, scores injured. Once again, civilians are the target of choice - and not just in the North and East. While its doubtful whether investigations into these bombings will ever find the culprits and hold them accountable under the law, the bombings have re-ignited the debate on combating terrorism in Sri Lanka and how we should respond to these attacks. For over 25 years we’ve been talking about this issue, and these bombings, …
Every time I look at an OCHA map of Sri Lanka, the magnitude of the humanitarian crisis is made really clear. For here, we have entire regions, districts of Sri Lanka suffering under multiple humanitarian crises. There are swathes of land without access, thousands of families without adequate food, water, shelter. The OCHA map also paints a picture markedly different to that of the Government’s rosy image of returning normalcy.
Who can these communities turn to? Caught between a Government more interested in a witch-hunt against NGOs, an LTTE that’s hell-bent on Eelam through even more bloodshed and violence, mysterious armed groups that appear and disappear overnight, and all manner of other travails and hardships that we …
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