Clarifying the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka
Thank you, Sir John, for your account of the current situation in Sri
Lanka, and your efforts to collect funding to help resolve the problems
faced by the displaced. I should note that we would have appreciated
greater notice of this briefing, since it is important to make it clear
that we are working in partnership.
Prof.
Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat
and Secretary Disaster Management and Human Rights Ministry
was invited to speak at a briefing by UN Under
Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency
Relief Coordinator Sir John Holmes in Geneva last week. His
presentation, including responses to questions, is carried
in full below. |
I am happy that OCHA in Sri Lanka, after some years of forgetting
this, now recognizes the importance of coordination with the Government,
and working according to government plans and policies, and that from
this year there is much greater attention to transparency and
accountability.
You were correct to divide the problems into three sections, which
need to be dealt with in different ways. Before I look at the most
serious of these, the problems faced by the civilians still held by the
LTTE, let me concur with the view that the problems of those who managed
to flee to refuge with the Government have been alleviated to a
substantial degree.
Though there were difficulties, especially when over 100,000 got away
together, these are now much less. In particular, we are grateful to
UNHCR which put up tents on sites that the Forces cleared by working day
and night, so that everyone now has shelter, along with adequate food.
Concerted effort
Other areas however need more concerted effort. There was much
anguish in particular about toilet facilities, which seemed
sub-standard. As you may be aware, different cultures have different
practices, and water is particularly important to us for hygienic
purposes.
This may explain why the SPHERE standard of 15 litres a day seems
inadequate. The result of current UN dogma is that the very basic
toilets initially put up in some places in Zone 2 filled up quickly and
became disgusting, and potentially a health hazard. We would therefore
urge some flexibility, and structures more like the more decent toilets
put up earlier by the Government in Zone 1.
Again, whilst we are very grateful to UNHCR for supplying so many
tents so quickly, these are small and low, and it is not correct to
expect families to spend much time in them each day, however short their
stay.
That is why, when these were first mooted instead of the more
comfortable structures put up by the Government in Zone 1, we asked and
it was agreed that there should be plenty of open spaces and child
learning centres, so that the people could be comfortable and gainfully
occupied.
These have been slow to come up, and the sites seem covered in tents,
so I hope this can be remedied, and work in any other areas be more in
line with human dignity from the start.
|
Some IDPs smiling with relief at
having reached the area controlled by the military. Picture
courtesy www.army.lk |
I am glad you clarified the issue of access, since the UN and over 50
agencies are present in force in the camps. I would however, ask for
caution about an excessive number of expatriates. Given the number of
visas approved recently for UN agencies alone, I can see well over a
million dollars out of the ten million you kindly granted recently
flowing out of the country in the expenses of expatriates.
Transparency
This is why we want transparency and a clear indication of how funds
are spent. We appreciate the many countries who have assisted us direct
because, while the UN has good experience in these fields, it seems
unfair on donors that there is sometimes a bizarre cascade effect
whereby donors fund the UN which then subcontracts to international
NGOs, which then subcontract to local NGOs, and in this plethora of
overheads, the intended recipients of aid get very little of it.
If you cannot fund the Government direct, you should think of funding
local NGOs, of which Sri Lanka has several with solid experience,
instead of multiplying the number of those who have to be paid
expatriate level salaries.
To turn now to the civilians still trapped by the LTTE, there is no
doubt that the best way for them to be saved is for the LTTE to lay down
its arms and surrender, as has so clearly been advocated by the G8, the
Co-Chairs and the UN too.
We must thank you and your colleagues for this forthrightness, but at
the same time we regret the equivocation of some politicians when asked
about this. Such an approach will encourage the LTTE to fight on, and
further endanger civilians.
Humanitarian pauses
Meanwhile the Government tried humanitarian pauses on two occasions,
only to find the LTTE taking advantage of this for military operations,
for building up walls to further entrap the civilians, and for strewing
landmines.
This increases our obligation to rescue these hostages, and we will
do it, while ensuring minimum civilian casualties.
As you know, our operations in April succeeded in getting over
100,000 out, and on Saturday nearly a thousand more came out which
unfortunately precipitated the brutal LTTE tactics to prevent this
recurring.
With regard to supplies, we will continue to do our best, and we hope
that the ICRC will be able to take in the large ship that we used
earlier. Till then there will be small supplies sent in as patients are
brought out.
Abuses will not recur
Finally, with regard to protection and other rights issues, I should
note the insidious campaign of disinformation being carried out. I have
discussed this with the Head of UNHCR, and will only refer you to the
website of our Mission here.
Sri Lanka knows its obligations in this respect, and will ensure that
any incident reported to it will be investigated and that abuses if any
will not recur.
As to releases from the camp, I refer you to the excellent report of
Prof Walter Kalin, Special Representative on the Rights of the
Displaced, who lays down guiding principles whilst also understanding
our security concerns and indicating how these can be respected whilst
maximizing a rights based approach.
For this, as for the question of rapid resettlement, or movement to
other sites, desirable as all this would be in the long term, I would
refer you as regards the short term to an article entitled ‘A Miasma of
Suspicion’.
This is also available on the Mission website, and it suggests why,
just as we need to respect the uncertainties of well wishers of Sri
Lanka, you too need to respect our own worries.
As we are on the verge of defeating terror, we cannot be complacent,
given the ruthless effectiveness of the Tigers.
We need your support to bring this effort to a successful conclusion,
while moving towards a democratic pluralistic future for all our
citizens. |