IDPs in Sri Lanka: An eyewitness report July 16, 2009 - Part II:

Seeing is believing

Gnanachandran S. Ayadurai

It was first mooted when Dr Shermal Perera got the news that there were several orphans in the IDP camps. The immediate response was what we could do to help these children. A temporary home in a Colombo orphanage was one of the options. It was not going to be that easy that the authorities were going to hand over orphans to us. The only way to make an informed decision was to actually visit the IDP camps. And for that, we needed permits from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Journey to Vavuniya

Dr. Shermal Perera was in contact with the Government of Sri Lanka's (GoSL) High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and its Deputy High Commissioner, Major General Udaya Perera provided full support. He actually encouraged us to see the IDP camp for ourselves. Hence, the decision was to see the state of the camps and assess their needs.

Three of us (Dr Shermal Perera, Dr Veronica and myself) flew out on Tuesday, July 14, 2009 to Colombo and it was 9 p.m. by the time we checked into our hotel. We got our MOD permit in the late afternoon on Wednesday, July 15 and decided to depart for the Menik Farm IDP camps in Vavuniya early on Thursday 16, morning. Dr Shermal's old friend provided us with a four wheel drive and a driver, and we departed at 3.30 a.m. We were at the Vavuniya checkpoint by 7.30 am and after checking and clearance, we had free access to all the surrounding villages where life seems to be going on as normal. There was military/police presence, but not over bearing. Apart from two checkpoints, nobody stopped us to search or check for anything. We then communicated by mobile phone with Chief Coordinator of the IDP Brig LC Perera and were directed to the Head Quarters.

Chat with Brig. Perera

We started off with saying that our primary purpose was to see how we could help the child orphans, to which the Brigadier explained that the GoSL had taken special responsibility of this part of the IDPs and it was under the direct purview of the First Lady.

He then gave us some pertinent information and some were in response to our questions:

110,000 IDP children;160,000 IDP adults; Average seven fatalities a day (mainly above 60 and for illness pre-IDP such as diabetes, cardiac); There was another camp of 17,000 in Jaffna; There were small camps starting January 2009; The avalanche was in May when they had 100,000 one day and 85,000 the next day.

They just could not cope with the volume and had to use 250 buses (packing 100 to a bus) and before that used tractors to transport them out of the lagoon to the buses.

The IDPs were starving, fatigued, unclean and in a sad state; It took 72 hours non-stop work to clear seven sq kilometers to ready the camps; The earlier zones (there are three zones) were zinc huts but later they were canvas tents mainly from China; Zone 1 was developed in November 08, Zone 2 in January 09 and Zone 3 in May 09; Each Zone is further divided into blocks and each block has its own kitchen; The IDPs have drawn out their own roster for cooking responsibilities; The NGOs provide 1,900 Kcal of food daily (2,100 Kcal is the recommended amount as per WFP); There are two hospitals (one donated and managed by India with 60 staff and an operating theatre); There are also makeshift schools for children with desks and chairs; Brig Perera also showed some pictures taken from his mobile when they flew over the lagoon and the beach before the final push - The beach was fully dotted with people (now IDPs) which the LTTE had looped as cover; About 10,000 LTTE cadres have surrendered and they have been put in separate camps; The guess is that there are another 1,500-2,000 LTTE members still in the camps; All the IDPs have in the last 25-30 years lived under LTTE environment and will need counselling settling into free livelihood; The immediate assistance needed was supplementary food and personal effects (such as chicken, oil, chilly, dried fish, umbrellas, footwear). Brig Perera will be happy to receive these or the funding for these through any approved NGO or the Government.

Visit to IDP camps

Brig LC Perera offered us to accompany him in his vehicle and our car followed. This is what we saw:

There were sentry points to enter each camp; Yes, there was perimeter barbed wire fencing. There have to be boundaries....; We zig-zagged in and out of each zone and inside the zones.

It was as it was. There was no preparation of a show for us; It was very hot and dusty especially with the winds and the arid surface soil; There were water hydrants where there were queues in some and where in others some were bathing in the open because of over-crowded bathrooms; There was virtually no military presence inside the camps. The IDPs were going about their daily lives freely; We visited both hospitals; The Government hospital was crowded but orderly. There were two doctors on duty.

It was in a huge hangar sized tent with the inscription "From the people of Japan". However, there are more doctors needed to relieve the existing ones; The Indian hospital (zinc corrugated structure) funded by the Indian Government was less crowded. To page 12

The writer is a second generation Sri Lankan Tamil born and raised in Malaysia and retired partner of one of the leading accounting firms.