Government doctors working in Lankan fighting area are ‘worn out’, says ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said that the government doctors working in the fighting area in Sri Lanka are “worn-out”. “The situation there is very difficult. The makeshift health facilities that are still existing are not immune of the effects of the hostilities,” the ICRC country chief, Paul Castella. The Ministry of Health staff still working there is really worn out – these people are working for months now without any break, they work day and night. And medical supplies are lacking,” he said.

The ICRC has evacuated over 10,000 civilians since early February, but Mr Castella could not confirm or deny figures that others are citing for the number of people recently killed, or managing to escape by land.

It said they do not have enough supplies to treat wounded people there. It would like to help people escaping the zone by land, but it had not yet been given access. Up to 100,000 Tamil civilians are trapped in the tiny area where the LTTE combatants are still confronting the army.

The life of civilians on the coastal strip, less than 20 sq km in size, is a nightmare. There has been shelling there for months, while the UN said the Tigers are preventing the people from escaping, despite rebel denials.

The government is not giving the ICRC or even UN access to the landward side of the zone, fearing that the real things will come to light if they can go there.