Aid groups and U.N. agencies are urging the Sri Lankan government to give them unrestricted access to camps housing more than a quarter of a million people who have fled the conflict in the northeast of the country.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared victory on Tuesday in the government's 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.

New restrictions on aid agencies, including a bar on entry for non-government vehicles, were imposed at the largest camp in Vavuniya district over the weekend, as the fighting reached its final climax. Aid workers say this is hindering their ability to deliver vital assistance to the displaced people inside.

"We need to have access, I repeat, total access, without the least let or hindrance, for the U.N., for NGOs and for the Red Cross," Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told a news briefing in Geneva on Wednesday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it has been forced to halt the distribution of emergency supplies, including hygiene items and cooking utensils.

"I can confirm that since Sunday the government has restricted access to the main camp (for displaced people), Menik Farm," ICRC spokesman Marcal Izard told AlertNet.

"We had been supplying about 40,000 people with kitchen sets, hygiene kits, soap, baby-care items and tarpaulin sheets. We have also installed mobile water plants which are still functioning. We are not suspending aid from our side, but at the moment there is no access for our non-food relief items to Menik Farm."

The government has told agencies the curbs have been introduced for security reasons as it is concerned that suspected Tiger rebels may be mingling with uprooted civilians. Aid workers says those who fled during the last stage of the conflict have been taken to Menik Farm.

Amjad Mohamed-Saleem, country director for Muslim Aid, which operates a mobile hospital at the camp, said: "We do have access but since the weekend, the authorities are not allowing vehicles in. So from that perspective, it's a little bit difficult. Main relief items are distributed through the camp authorities. You have to surrender your ID card at the camp entrance, but people are getting in."

The World Food Programme said new restrictions at Menik Farm are affecting its ability to manage how food aid is provided to residents. "This has had no impact on the delivery of food but some impact on our ability to monitor the orderly distribution of food," said WFP country director Adnan Khan.

The restrictions mean WFP cannot ensure the right kind of food is being provided to those in need, including undernourished children and elderly people. "We're in negotiations with the government as this would probably hinder our work if it continued," said Khan.

He added that the size of the displaced population at Menik Farm is hard to pin down, but as many as 220,000 people are estimated to be living there in crowded conditions. Those arriving are traumatised by the multiple displacements they have suffered during the conflict, and many children and elderly refugees are malnourished, Khan said. WFP's access to other camps has not been restricted.

DESPERATE NEED FOR AID

Up to 80,000 people have left the former war zone in the last three days, bringing the total of those who have fled the fighting in recent months to 280,000, according to the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR).

It says there is an urgent need to get fresh humanitarian supplies into the camps. "Our access to the Vavuniya sites has been greatly curtailed over the past few days and this affects our ability to monitor and distribute aid to the displaced," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said. "We hope this ends quickly."

The United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for obstacles to be removed. "Full and unimpeded humanitarian access must be ensured so that children and women can receive the assistance they so desperately need," said UNICEF director Ann Veneman in a statement on Tuesday.

"People are arriving into camps sick, malnourished and some with untended wounds of war. This massive influx of people, who have suffered as a result of conflict and deprivation, will put an even greater strain on the health, sanitation and water systems."

To meet the daily needs of the displaced population, WFP is boosting food stocks at its Vavuniya hub and putting mobile storage units in place in temporary transit camps. Other agencies have been supplying emergency health kits, cooking pots, educational materials and water purification tablets to help contain the spread of contagious diseases.

But bureaucratic hurdles are making it difficult for aid groups to operate as they would like. "You only get military clearance for the north if you have a work permit and that has made it difficult to get new personnel in," said Barbara Chambers of Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action).

Mohamed-Saleem of Muslim Aid said relief agencies had little choice but to work with the system imposed by the authorities, and try to come up with practical solutions that address the concerns of both sides. "There will eventually come a tipping point where a compromise has to come between the government and aid agencies in how to respond effectively and efficiently," he said.

The problems facing the aid community will be in the spotlight when U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visits Sri Lanka at the end of the week. He has stressed the need for progress in three critical areas: immediate humanitarian relief; reintegration and reconstruction; and a sustainable, equitable political solution to prevent conflict in the future.

(Additional reporting by Megan Rowling)

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