Situation in Jaffna

Taken from HIC Sri Lanka situation report

JAFFNA DISTRICT
Situation update
• The security situation in Jaffna remains tense with audible and sporadic outgoing daily shelling. On 28 Jan, there was an escalation with heavy exchanges
at the FDL, resulting in the cancellation of all civilian flights. The situation has since returned to occasional outgoing shelling. The airport at Palali is open.
Displacement/Returns
• A new small scale displacement took place in Chavakachcheri DS Division following the intensification of shelling/artillery in the vicinity of the FDL on 21
Jan. However, most of the displaced population has since returned to their places of origin as the situation calmed.
• The Jaffna GA is planning to facilitate a return of 19 IDP families to Allaipidi, Velanai DS Division (Kayts Island). Agencies have expressed some concerns
about the current security situation on the island, but authorities have reiterated their intention to organize this return in accordance with the Guiding
Principles on Internal Displacement.
• UNHCR continues to monitor IDPs living at Temporary Accommodation Centres. 11 TACs remain functional – five in Karaveddy, three in Chavakachcheri,
and three in Jaffna.

Misconstructions of our vital work hampers aid effectiveness and endangers our workers

A study has been carried out by the Feinstein International Centre which looks at the issues of universality, terrorism, coherence and security in relation to the humanitarian enterprise in Sri Lanka. The centre publicises its research on the politics and policy of aiding the vulnerable carried out by humanitarian workers across the globe. It has indicated that there is a worrying negative perception of our kind of work being regarded as a ‘self serving enterprise’ (Humanitarian Agenda 2015). The tsunami experience of money flooding in but no one really seeing where it was going was the foundation to this perception. Now with the ongoing conflict, there is widespread suspicion that agencies are using humanitarian action to pursue other agendas, especially pro- LTTE leanings. We have to be very clear about our mandates and communicate them in order that local political interests don’t misconstruct our work. At this crucial time we need the support of our government, our people and the international community to carry out the vital work of emergency response and rehabilitation. The study concluded that the negative construction of our work has hampered the delivery and effectiveness of assistance. It has also endangered the lives of aid workers. It states that ‘humanitarian engagement in Sri Lanka is likely to become increasingly dangerous and difficult unless international actors become more aware about how they are being politically manipulated and can better communicate their mission so as to counter this negative view constructed in order to further local interests’. Let us be aware and unite to work meaningfully and safely to serve our people.
(for full report please see http://fic.tufts.edu/?pid=10)

Sri Lanka: 187,500 Internally Displaced Persons

Updated figures of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka as of 31 December 2007 of those IDP movements after 7 April 2006, has been established to be 187,850 persons. Of this number, 31,843 still remain in welfare centres or temporary accommodation centres, while 156,007 are said to live with friends and relatives. However, numbers given for Killinochchi, Mullativu and the Southern part of Jaffna cannot be verified.

This data is contained in a compilation published on 17 January 2008 by the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, the Ministry of Nation Building and Development and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

The table below lists the figures on a District wise basis:

District	IDPs in Welfare Centres and Temporary Accommodation Centres	IDPs with Friends and Relatives	Total
Jaffna	857	30,180	31,037
Kilinochchi	3,737	44,810	48,547
Mullativu	923	31,173	32,096
Mannar	9,660	13,884	23,544
Vavuniya	281	10,362	10,643
Trincomalee	3,753	2,218	5,971
Batticaloa	10,041	16,471	26,512
Ampara	87	5,608	5,695
Puttalam	2,371	551	2,922
Anuradhapura	-	486	486
Polonnaruwa	133	47	180
Gampaha	-	213	213
Kegalle	-	4	4
Grand Total	31,843	156,007	187,850

The government is committed to settling back all IDPs in their original homes. In the Eastern Province alone, over 108,000 IDPs have already returned to their homes since March 2007, and only 38,178 persons are living in welfare centres or temporary accommodation or with friends and relatives. Most of them have been held back due to the need for the clearance of landmines.

The settlement of IDPs back in their homes has been a voluntary process and it has been undertaken according to international standards. This has been acknowledged by the international community including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme(WFP).

- Asian Tribune -