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FROM THE FIELD

Save the Children launches emergency aid effort for Sri Lanka civil war victims
16 Feb 2009 17:16:04 GMT

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Save the Children has begun delivering life-saving aid to some of the thousands of civilians who have been able to flee the war zone in northern Sri Lanka.
 
Nearly 28,000 people - many of whom have lost everything - have arrived in the district of Vavuniya, approximately 100km south of the fighting, in the past few days and are completely dependent on aid from the Sri Lankan authorities, the UN and non-governmental organisations. Thousands more people are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.

Save the Children, in collaboration with the government and other agencies, has already given thousands of children and their families clothes, bedding, hygiene kits including soap and toothbrushes and other basic items.

As well as distributing aid, the charity is also trying to stockpile supplies for the thousands more people who are expected to arrive in Vavuniya district and will desperately need our help.

Michelle Brown, Save the Children’s Emergency Adviser for Sri Lanka, said: “The Sri Lankan government is providing displaced people with food, water and shelter, but conditions in the camps – most of which have been set up in schools and other public buildings – are not ideal; they are overcrowded, there are not enough toilets and there is little privacy.

“As more people arrive from the conflict area over the next few weeks, the situation is only going to get worse.

“Most of the children who are arriving in Vavuniya are suffering from stress because of what they have witnessed and having to flee to safety. Some may not even have their mother or father to comfort them. Save the Children believes that all of them will need care and support over the coming months.”

Save the Children, which has worked in Sri Lanka for more than 30 years, is calling on the Government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to ensure the safety and security of all civilians, especially children, many of whom have never known peace in their short lives.

Some families have been displaced for up to nine months, after the recent upsurge in the conflict. Others have not had a place to call home for much longer, having been forced to flee every time the fighting changed direction in a civil war which started more than 25 years ago.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Last updated:Mon Feb 16 17:16:59 2009