A noble mission

Concerns have been expressed around the world for the civilians virtually held hostage by the LTTE in the no fire zone in the Vanni. Many world bodies have urged the LTTE to let the civilians go to cleared areas, where the authorities have established a mechanism to look after their needs until resettlement becomes a possibility.

The LTTE in its usual style has not listened to these appeals. It continues to use the hostages as a human shield and worse, fires from within the zone towards the Security Forces. However, with the fighting reaching the very last stages, The Forces are now poised to rescue these civilians from the grip of LTTE terror. These civilians are our own brethren and the Government has not backed away from ensuring their safety despite claims to the contrary by various parties with vested interests.

In fact, one remarkable feature of the conflict in Sri Lanka is that Sri Lankan Governments have sent an uninterrupted supply of foods and other essentials to areas dominated by the Tigers for the last two decades or so, for the consumption of civilians. It was always known that the Tigers pilfered a substantial amount of such supplies, but that was never cited as an excuse to stop the flow of goods. Sri Lanka is perhaps the only country in the world where food was regularly sent to regions dominated by an enemy of the State. Of course, apart from ending food, the Government maintained schools and hospitals in these areas and the paid public servants' salaries.

This stance has still not changed. The only difference in the light of the current humanitarian mission of the Forces is that they have regained 99 percent of the territory earlier controlled by the LTTE. Thousands of civilians are already in the cleared areas, with many more braving Tiger threats to come in daily. Throughout the humanitarian mission, the Government sent truckloads of essential items to the Vanni, to be distributed through the Government Agents. Ships were used to send the goods before some of the land access routes were cleared by the Forces.

While the Government itself sent many convoys, it has also worked closely with the United Nations, the World Food Program (WFP) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in this endeavour. It has welcomed international assistance properly channelled through the Government and its agencies. An example was the donation of 800 metric tons of essentials by India to Vanni civilians, which was distributed through the ICRC with the fullest cooperation of the Forces and relevant Government agencies.

The UN Security Council's new chief Claude Heller has stated that the UN has a very good level of cooperation with the Government on the humanitarian situation. This is ample testimony to the Government's commitment to protect the Vanni civilians.

It was only on Wednesday that the WFP dispatched 1,030 metric tonnes of essential food items, medical items and shelter kits to trapped civilians in Mullaitivu on an ICRC chartered vessel. The Navy provided assistance and safe passage to transport the food items.

The WFP has acknowledged that the timely provision of a large capacity vessel by the Government enabled the WFP and other partners to ship the goods to the conflict affected civilians. This manifests the Government's concern for the civilians still being held hostage by the LTTE.

It is in this light that we should look at the misinformation being spread on the Vanni civilians by LTTE sympathizers and also the attempts being made to send food items to the North without the express consent of the Government of Sri Lanka. There have been instances where arms had been smuggled in for the Tigers in the guise of humanitarian aid. Many items donated by INGOs and NGOs apparently for the use of civilians have been recovered from Tiger bunkers. In any case, the Tigers cannot be trusted to deliver goods among the civilians considering their past record. Any requests to send food to the Vanni from local and international sources should necessarily be channelled through the Government, but available food stocks for the IDPs are sufficient according to the Government Agents and IDPs themselves. There is thus no need for any party to rush in supplies.

It is a pity that certain international figures and bodies have issued statements against the Government without studying the facts on the ground. This can only prop up the Tigers, now gasping for breath in a corner of the Vanni. They have mysteriously been silent on the Tigers' spate of atrocities against Tamil civilians. On the other hand, the Government is aiming to stop the Tigers' hold over the civilians and establish peace and democracy in the North. All forces, local and international, should support this noble mission.