• IASC says UN and INGOs do not have access in these areas

The UN says armed groups continue to operate in the Ampara district with harassments, intimidation of civilians and extortions continuing. This comes even as the UN earlier said it had decided to restrict the movements of its staff operating in Batticaloa in the wake of the internal rift between Pillayan and Karuna cadres.

“Armed groups continue to operate in the district. Harassments, intimidation of civilians and extortions continue,” the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC), an UN umbrella group said. The SLMM had also last week expressed concern over continuing disappearances, killings and abductions in the eastern part of the country.

Meanwhile the IASC added that UN and INGOs do not have access to the Kanchikudicharu areas in Thirukkovil, Ampara as military operations continue.

IASC also says there are also instances where some of the IDP’s in the east are unwilling to return to their places of origin due to security concerns.

“Reliable sources including the GA indicate that the remaining IDPs will not be able to return to their places of origin in the near future. The majority of displaced are from within the Thirukkovil division.”

The agency further states that host family coping mechanisms are being strained; as a result of lack of employment, limited infrastructure and high levels of poverty in host communities.

IDPs who are accommodated in transitional tsunami camps are the most vulnerable, IASC added.

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