Foreign Secretary David Miliband, speaking on the UK’s engagement in Sri Lanka during a statement to the House of Commons today, said that the UK is concerned that there is no independent visibility of the process by which over 11,000 IDPs have been identified as suspected LTTE cadres and moved to separate camps.
He also said that the UK is working with others to press for freedom of movement to be restored to the IDPs adding that freedom of movement for the IDP population is critical if a humanitarian crisis is to be averted in the IDP camps when the monsoon rains fall.
“The IDPs continue to have inadequate access to health care and following a drop in the river level delivery of adequate water has been problematic in recent weeks. Unusually heavy rains during August demonstrated that the camps are ill-equipped for the sustained heavy rains expected from mid-October to December during the monsoon season,” Miliband said.
“We are concerned over the lack of freedom of movement for the IDP population because of the nature of the ‘closed’ camps and over the ongoing separation of families and the heavy military oversight of the camps. We are also concerned that there is no independent visibility of the process by which over 11,000 IDPs have been identified as suspected LTTE cadres and moved to separate camps and that the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have had no access to them since July,” he added.
Miliband recalled that at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UK took the decision in July not to support the Stand-By Arrangement for Sri Lanka. Whilst the UK acknowledged the need to help Sri Lanka avoid a damaging balance of payments crisis that would have disproportionately affected the poorest and most vulnerable members of society, the UK judged that the risks of a default had diminished and that the humanitarian and political situations posed risks to implementation of the programme.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow TNN on Facebook and Twitter )