Aid Groups Say Sri Lanka Curtails Access to Refugees

[Coventina]

Source: New York Times

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka’s government ignored mounting calls by international relief organizations on Friday for greater access to the country’s swelling refugee camps, as the military continued to weed out suspected former Tamil Tiger rebels hiding among civilians.

Even as the end of the war has brought a new flood of refugees in the north in recent days, the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other groups have said that the military’s new restrictions have curtailed their activities and are endangering the lives of the refugee population, now estimated at 280,000.

In a joint statement on Friday, 14 international relief organizations operating in the camps said that the government had restricted the movement of their vehicles, making it impossible to provide adequate services.

"The government is afraid that with such a large number of vehicles going in and out of the camps, some L.T.T.E. members may escape,” said David White, the head in Sri Lanka of Oxfam, one of the 14 organizations, referring to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers. “Also, the large number of international vehicles in the camps makes it seem as if it’s an international relief effort, whereas the government is very keen on portraying this as a national effort.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/23/world/asia/23lanka.html?ref=world