Shelter Centre

Date: 24 Feb 2010
Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks

Source: IRIN About a year ago, civil war raged around Vasanthi Kumari's house in northern Sri Lanka. "There was a loud sound and 'Appa' [father] went out," Kumari, 21, told IRIN. "That was the last time we saw him alive." Because of the danger, she said, the family could not even bury him properly. "We just dug a hole and put him there."

Source: IRIN As the results of Sri Lanka's first post-war presidential election poured in, the mood at Menik Farm, in the main government-run camp for the ethnic Tamil internally displaced (IDPs), in the northern town of Vavuniya, was sober.

Source: UNHCR Kavitha is one of tens of thousands of displaced ethnic Tamils to return to their homes from camps in northern Sri Lanka. She still faces many challenges.

BATTICALOA Thursday, December 24, 2009 (IRIN) - The Asian tsunami left more than 220,000 people dead in 13 countries, including some 35,000 in Sri Lanka. Koneshwari Sivaganeshan, 11, who lives with her grandmother in the eastern town of Batticaloa, recalls that day five years ago.

Dushi at Groundviews posts a photo story highlighting some forgotten victims of the tsunami in Sri Lanka in 2004 who are still living in temporary shelters. A commenter in that post wondered what happened to the 2.2 Billion dollars of aid Sri Lanka received.

Source: Reuters By Shihar Aneez VAVUNIYA, Sri Lanka, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Thousands of ethnic Tamils displaced during Sri Lanka's war have gone home again, but are finding basic services and infrastructure lacking ...

Date: 19 Nov 2009
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Lutheran World Relief (LWR) - USA Baltimore -- Lutheran World Relief (LWR) congratulates the US House of Representatives for passing Resolution 711, expressing support for Sri Lanka’s internally displaced people (IDPs) and ...

Source: IRIN One of the more contentious issues in Sri Lanka this year has been the plight of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the north.

Source: IRIN Landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) are a key obstacle to the return of thousands of conflict-displaced to their homes in northern Sri Lanka, say government and UN officials.

Source: Humanitarian Practice Network In July 2009, a Times journalist reported that 1,400 people had died in Manik Farm camp following fierce fighting between the Sri Lankan army and Tamil Tiger rebels (LTTE). This article looks at the truth behind these claims and the difficulties faced by humanitarian aid agencies in assessing the conditions faced by the displaced in the camps.

The recent announcement by the UK government that it would only concentrate on "emergency" funding for the inhabitants at Manik Farm has been designed to exert pressure on the Sri Lankan government to develop some solid and sustainable settlement to the issue of the 300,000 plus internally displaced people (IDPs) after the end of the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in April.

Since the end of April, these IDPs have been in these camps with the most basic of needs found wanting. If you read any of my previous blogs you would have read about the challenges faced by these people as well as those working within the camps, the situation not being helped by a reluctance of the government to open up. Understandably though as there is this incessant government paranoia of "having no friends".

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New chapter opens for IDPs in Sri Lanka
Nation on Sunday
Hence the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services along with the other responsible authorities decided to provide temporary shelter for these ...

Nearly 6,000 Tamil refugees have been released from Sri Lanka's main camp for war-displaced people, officials say. Original article.

Source: Human Rights Watch (New York) - The Sri Lankan government's recent statements that it aims to return only 100,000 of the original 273,000 displaced civilians confined to camps by the end of 2009 breaks a promise to ...

Action by Churches Together (ACT) - Switzerland Appeal Sri Lanka Assistance to conflict-displaced persons - LKA091 Revision 2 Appeal Target: US$ 2,512,577 Balance Requested: US$ 197,224 Geneva, 13 October 2009 Around ...

Source: Human Rights Watch (New York) - The Sri Lankan government should immediately release the 250,000 displaced Tamils still held in detention camps, Human Rights Watch said today. Deteriorating conditions, including a ...

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is deeply concerned about reports of security incidents taking place inside camps accommodating internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Sri Lanka. Original article

Sri Lanka - Govt's responsibility: Security of all Sri Lankans ...
ISRIA
Apart from emergency food, shelter and medical care, water supply and sanitation were critical needs which have to be catered for. The national Disaster ...

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