'Protection of civilians in Sri Lanka is absolutely paramount'
(29 April 2009)

Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, visited Sri Lanka on 29 April with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to urge a humanitarian ceasefire. The Foreign Secretary travelled to the country to highlight the UK's concern over the short term civilian situation, which has been described by the United Nations as 'dire'. Ahead of the visit David Miliband said the aim of the visit was to urge the government of Sri Lanka to live up to the case made by the UN Security Council President on Friday repeating that the LTTE should facilitate exit from the conflict zone.

In a press conference in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, the Foreign Secretary said "now is the time for the fighting to stop... Protection of civilians is absolutely paramount in our minds."

Speaking to the BBC, the Foreign Secretary said: "Well the so called safe zone is not safe at all, that’s where the conflict has been ongoing. The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary confirmed there will be absolutely no more heavy shelling, that must be put in to practice, but of course it’s a stop to the fighting that the European Union and the G8 have been calling for.

At the moment the civilians are trapped by LTTE, the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist organisation that is stopping them leaving this so called no fire zone but the Government’s obviously got responsibility that it needs to live up to as a democratic member of the United Nations applying the rules of international humanitarian law."

During the visit David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and called on the government to allow aid workers into the war zone. They also toured displacement (IDP) camps to see for themselves the humanitarian situation. As part of their tour they visited a French field hospital and UK funded UNHCR tents. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had earlier expressed concern over the welfare of refugees in these camps.

Children flee Sri Lanka conflict zone in their thousands

More than 50,000 children who have escaped the conflict zone in northern Sri Lanka are in desperate need of immediate assistance, Save the Children warns. “The children who have been fortunate enough to flee the conflict are distressed by what they have experienced" said Prasant Naik, Save the Children’s Country Director for Sri Lanka.

“They have been displaced many times, faced constant shelling, seen their relatives and friends killed. The next few days are crucial as more people who are trapped in the conflict zone are expected to come out in large numbers.”

Tens of thousands of vulnerable children are still trapped inside the conflict zone in Vanni. Save the Children fears they may not have enough food or water and many of them are in desperate need of medical care. They continue to face the risk of being caught in the cross-fire and recruited by the LTTE. The aid agency reminds all sides in the conflict of the urgent need to protect civilians. More than 100,000 people – including 50,000 children – have been able to escape the conflict zone since the beginning of this year – the majority in the past few days.

Save the Children, which has more than 30 year’s experience of working in Sri Lanka, is providing thousands of children and their families with clothes, hygiene kits and other essential items, and has set up emergency pre-schools. Save the Children is running “child-friendly spaces” to provide a safe place for children to play and to help them forget what they have experienced.

Save the Children has also been registering separated and unaccompanied children in order to reunite them with their families. “We are doing everything we can to support these children and their families and will continue to do so in the weeks and months to come,” Mr Naik said. For more information about Save the Children or to make a donation call 0207 012 6400 or go to www.savethechildren.org.uk