At least 3,000 people in the past two days fled Sri Lanka’s war zone, where Tamil Tiger rebels hold just a few square kilometres outside a no-fire zone in which tens of thousands are trapped, the military said on Friday.
Here are some questions and answers about the people:
HOW MANY ARE TRAPPED?
According to the Red Cross, about 150,000 people, but the government says there are no more than 70,000. Nearly all are in a 12-km (7-mile) long strip of coconut groves on the coast, which also has water on the inland side and is no wider than a half-kilometre. The army has declared the area a no-fire zone but the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and United Nations says the military has fired into it. The military denies the allegation as propaganda designed to produce pressure for a ceasefire that would give the Tigers time to regroup. The Tigers are also firing heavy guns from inside the area, the United Nations has said. Aid agencies say food, medicine and clean water are in short supply, but the government is bringing in what it can by boats sailing under the flag of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
WHY HAVEN’T THEY FLED ALREADY?
Aid agencies, rights groups and witnesses say the LTTE is shooting people who try to run, and forcing some, including children as young as 15, to fight. The Tigers deny all of the allegations, and say people stay by choice because they fear persecution at army-guarded refugee camps. The U.N.’s top humanitarian official, Sir John Holmes, visited some camps last month and said they met standards, but urged greater freedom of movement for residents. The government says it needs time to separate the innocent from Tiger infiltrators.
HOW MANY HAVE ESCAPED THE FIGHTING?
About 48,000 since Jan. 1, the military says. Most came out in a 10-day period that started when soldiers reached an old no-fire zone at the end of January. But a second exodus is now gathering speed, with around 7,200 fleeing since Saturday, according to military figures. They have fled despite heavy fighting between the Tigers and the army. Among the most recent group of escapees were 643 who fled under rebel fire in three dozen small boats. The navy said it chased off the LTTE, which has yet to comment on that.
HOW MANY HAVE BEEN KILLED OR WOUNDED?
No one knows for sure. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Friday said more than 2,800 civilians had been killed and more than 7,000 injured since Jan. 20. She said the conduct of both sides against civilians could amount to war crimes. The government immediately rejected the allegation and called the figures unsubstantiated. Pillay has not identified the sources for the data. Officials familiar with the data say the figures were synthesised in Colombo and use a mix of eyewitness reports and information from government health officials in the war zone. In any case, the government said Pillay’s numbers closely reflected those given by the pro-LTTE website www.TamilNet.com. The government has acknowledged some civilians may have been killed, but not on a mass scale. The Tigers have never acknowledged killing non-combatants.
WHAT RISKS DO CIVILIANS FACE?
Besides the threat of getting caught in the crossfire in a war zone now no more than 25 square km (10 sq miles), northern Sri Lanka is awash in land mines and booby traps. A mine injured the wife of a Sri Lankan U.N. staff worker who escaped on Monday. The Tigers have been accused of firing from heavily populated areas, and the military of returning fire. Both deny that.
WHAT IS BEING DONE ABOUT THEM?
Diplomats are working furiously to get the Tigers to let people go free, and for the government to have a brief pause in fighting to let that happen. The Tigers have so far rebuffed all entreaties. The government says it will set up two routes out of the no-fire zone and guarantee safe passage.
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