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WASHINGTON, May 19 (OneWorld.net) - Tramautized children, half-starved families, and injured civilians are now escaping Sri Lanka's former conflict zone by the tens of thousands, seeking the relative security of newly assembled refugee camps. Several aid groups are working to avert a humanitarian crisis.

• Displaced families in Sri Lanka © trokilinochchi (flickr)

  "Aside from food and water, these people need medical attention. Many are injured and have not had access to treatment for some time. It's also important to get children into a safe place where they can start recovering from their trauma," said the international humanitarian organization Save the Children Monday. After the Sri Lankan government declared victory over the weekend against the Tamil Tiger rebel group (LTTE) following a 26-year conflict, Save the Children called for increased humanitarian efforts to urgently supply aid to the wounded and displaced, and "permanent humanitarian access" to the estimated 40 government-controlled camps. As refugee camps become inundated with new people, particular attention needs to be paid to children who often arrive severely traumatized, injured, or malnourished, the group said. Many are orphaned as well, or have been separated from loved ones. (See Save the Children's full statement below.)

• Refugee camps in the region are already stretched to capacity, as approximately 200,000 people have fled the conflict zone in recent weeks. Many are being housed in already overstretched camps struggling to provide access to decent water, sanitation, and sufficient food. Overcrowding is raising concerns about aid distribution and disease control. "The end of the fighting has led to a massive influx of new people, and we are worried that the camps will not be able to cope," David White, Oxfam's acting country director, noted. White's group is urging the Sri Lankan government to "do all it can" to improve the situation in the camps around Vavuniya, in the north of the country.

• The Tamil Tiger rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was reportedly killed Monday, with two of his top commanders, when his vehicle was ambushed as he tried to escape from the war zone, reports BBC News. The Tamil Tigers lay down their arms Sunday after admitting the conflict had reached a "bitter end," reports Al Jazeera. Despite the destruction of the rebels' conventional forces, the potential for a guerrilla insurgency remains, noted the Associated Press, adding that "President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who plans to officially declare victory Tuesday in a speech to parliament, has promised a power sharing deal with the Tamil minority." 

• Sri Lanka has long been mired in ethnic violence between the Sinhalese-dominated national army and the Tamil Tiger rebels who want a separate homeland in the north of the island nation. The armed conflict, which had been on and off since 1983, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and was considered one of the deadliest in the world. See the OneWorld.net country guide on Sri Lanka for more on the politics, human rights, and humanitarian situation in the country. 

Children are bearing the brunt of the humanitarian crisis as Sri Lanka's conflict comes to a brutal conclusion

From: Save the Children 

May 18, 2009 

A further fifty thousand people are expected to flee the conflict zone in North East Sri Lanka posing an inevitable humanitarian crisis, Save the Children warned today.

As the Sri Lankan government claims victory in its 26-year conflict with minority rebel group the LTTE (Tamil Tigers), Save the Children calls for permanent humanitarian access to the estimated 40 government-controlled camps which are already sheltering more than 200,000 displaced people.

Branko Golubovic, acting country director of Save the Children in Sri Lanka, said: 'it is vital that all civilians coming out of the conflict zone have access to the government-controlled area as soon as possible and are given assistance.

'Aside from food and water, these people need medical attention. Many are injured and have not had access to treatment for some time. It's also important to get children into a safe place where they can start recovering from their trauma.'

There are already 55,000 children below the age of 18 living in the camps, at least 32 per cent of which are malnourished.

Children arriving from the conflict zone are severely traumatised, many having witnessed the deaths of parents, relatives and friends. Others who have been forced to fight with the LTTE are severely psychologically damaged and too frightened to speak about their experiences.

Thousands of children as young as five are arriving in the camps unaccompanied and confused having lost their parents in the fighting or having been separated from them in the exodus from the conflict zone

Save the Children warns that camps of more than 20,000 people pose significant humanitarian problems in terms of both aid distribution and the potential for outbreaks of disease.

As one camp in Vavuniya is already accommodating more than 50,000 people, the overstretched sanitation facilities and fresh water supplies will be unable to cope with the tens of thousands of people expected to arrive in the week. The humanitarian effort must scale up urgently to meet the needs of the wounded and displaced.

Save the Children, which has be working in Sri Lanka for more than 30 year's, is currently helping 30,000 children and their families, distributing food, water, clothes, shelter and infant kits. Save the Children is also providing temporary education facilities and 'child friendly spaces', encouraging children, including former child soldiers, to play together in safety within the camps.

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