Restrictions on the access of aid agencies to government-controlled camps in northern Sri Lanka is endangering tens of thousands of malnourished and traumatised children.
Friday 22 May 2009
As United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visits Sri Lanka, we urge him to make the immediate and full access to the camps an urgent priority in his discussions with the Sri Lankan government.
As many as 300,000 people, over half of whom are children, are estimated to be living in overcrowded shelters without adequate access to food and clean water, having fled the violence in the north-east of the country.
Only those distributing basic supplies are now able to operate in the camp. Government restrictions are preventing agencies from getting essential psychological support to traumatised children. In addition, aid teams monitoring conditions in the camps are no longer allowed access.
“As long as humanitarian access to the camps is restricted, the mental and physical health of tens of thousands of children and their families will be jeopardised,” said Dr. Balwant Singh, Save the Children’s South and Central Asia Regional Director.
“Many have witnessed acts of unimaginable violence”, Dr. Singh continued. “If that trauma isn’t addressed immediately it could have serious long-term consequences. Aid agencies must have immediate and full access to people in desperate need of assistance.”
The humanitarian restrictions are particularly worrying for the last influx of around 60,000 displaced people to Vavuniya, a town in northern Sri Lanka. They have spent weeks trapped in the former conflict zone without access to medical treatment or sufficient food or water.
Many children are still living in the camps on their own having been separated from their parents on their arrival to the government-controlled areas. The reunification process has been painfully slow.
Save the Children, which has been working in Sri Lanka for more than 30 years, is currently helping 30,000 children and their families in the camps, distributing food, water, clothes, shelter and kits to help care for infants. Save the Children is supporting local authorities in providing temporary education facilities and 'child friendly spaces', encouraging children to play in safety within the camps.