http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=44e5d34d2

GENEVA, August 18 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency on Friday called on the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to urgently allow humanitarian aid workers free access to all parts of the island so that vital supplies can reach those cut off by fighting. UNHCR also wants the rivals to permit freedom of movement to all civilians displaced by their conflict.

"We and our partners are now seriously concerned about the welfare of civilians in areas inaccessible to humanitarian agencies because of strictly enforced travel restrictions, as fighting continues in the north and east of Sri Lanka," UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told journalists in Geneva. After the main access road to the Jaffna peninsula through the LTTE-controlled Killinochchi district was closed, supplies of food and water have fallen to what Pagonis described as "alarmingly low levels" in many locations. "As a result, people are hoarding food, and merchants are sharply hiking prices in local markets," she added.

The situation in Point Pedro, in the north of the Jaffna peninsula, is even more fluid and unpredictable than in Jaffna town. Displaced civilians in Point Pedro are staying in vacant homes and with host families, and UNHCR and its partners fear they may not have adequate electricity, water and sanitary facilities.

"Eastern districts face a similar crisis," Pagonis said. "Thousands of displaced families in Muttur and Eachchilampattu divisions of Trincomalee district, and Vaharai division in Batticaloa district, are in desperate need of sustained humanitarian relief."

Some 15,000 to 20,000 people are now said to be displaced in the Killinochchi area as a result of repeated artillery shelling and air strikes. Humanitarian agencies are targeting their help to those displaced people - some 9,500 individuals - living outdoors under trees, or in communal buildings. Working with other agencies, UNHCR has distributed emergency relief items - kitchen utensils, pots and pans, towels, bed sheets, jerry cans, tarpaulins, mats, laundry soap and personal soap - to about 1,500 families, giving priority to the most vulnerable people.

"Unfortunately, we have limited stock and are not sure when new stock will arrive because of restrictions on road transport," said Pagonis. Around 500 families have reportedly moved to the grounds of Madhu church in Mannar district, a previous displacement site during the 1983-2002 civil war. All permanent houses around the church are now fully occupied by displaced people, and nearly 75 families have erected tents in the surrounding area. UNHCR expects even more families to arrive in the coming days and the agency will work with partners to address their immediate needs.

"On a more positive note," Pagonis said, "We are pleased to report that we have gained limited access to Vaharai," an area of Batticaloa receiving many thousands of displaced people from neighbouring Trincomalee. An assessment mission from UNHCR and other agencies monitored the distribution of relief items and assessed needs in Vaharai to allow for effective distribution of vital relief items in coming days and weeks.

Since fighting began to flare up in Sri Lanka in April, UNHCR has recorded 162,000 Sri Lankans who have fled their homes but remain within the country, as well as 7,439 who have crossed the Palk Strait to become refugees in southern India's Tamil Nadu state.

Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - UNHCR
Date: 18 August 2006