International Red Cross society has warned that the displacement of people in the North following the war between the security forces and the LTTE has worsened the humanitarian problem in those areas.

The ICRC is an organization that still functions in the North-East despite the fact Jaffna is cut off from the rest of the Island. Therefore any appeal from an organization based in the theatre of war must be given serious consideration.

The ICRC has expressed grave concern that if the curfew continues in the Jaffna peninsula, then it can affect the normalcy there.

Five hundred thousand persons comprising of one hundred thousand families live in Jaffna and 25 percent of those people are displaced within the peninsula due to the prevailing situation.

According to Jaffna Secretariat, Jaffna needs 5000 tons of essential commodities per month. On this basis, a person could get 10kg.

While people in Jaffna suffer from scarcity, statements were issued in Colombo that actions are taken to send essential items to Jaffna and that President Rajapakse personally visited to ensure dispatch of essential commodities. It was also said 3,800 metric tons of essential commodities would be dispatched by ship to meet their needs for three weeks.

But the reality is that only 1500 metric tons reached Jaffna. It could be enough to manage only a week.

The situation is the same in the areas of Vanni, where only a limited number of lorries were permitted to proceed with essential food items. Therefore, it is quite evident that a great tragedy of humanitarian problem has arisen in the Jaffna peninsula following the war, poor distribution of essential commodities and the continuing curfew.

In this situation, the service of Non- Governmental Organizations is greatly needed in order to alleviate the sufferings of this people and representatives of the NGO’s must be permitted to work in those areas without fear.

But it is unfortunate that employees of NGO’s in the areas controlled by the security forces face threats. In this background, the humanitarian problems can worsen there.

An English translation of the editorial in Uthayan, a Tamil daily, based in Jaffna

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