BRUSSELS (AFP)–The European Commission Thursday announced an additional EUR3 million funding for the Red Cross to help tackle the growing humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka’s strife-torn north.
"I am appalled by the humanitarian catastrophe in the north of Sri Lanka. Thousands of civilians trapped in the conflict zone have died and more are dying every day, not only from repeated shelling but also from lack of food, water and medical care," said E.U. Development Commissioner Louis Michel.
"Only minimal humanitarian assistance is being allowed into the area. There is an immediate and urgent need to act, to save lives and prevent further human tragedy," he added in a statement.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is the only international humanitarian organisation allowed into the conflict zone and is working "in desperate conditions" to bring life-saving assistance to the people who are trapped and to evacuate the sick and wounded, the commission said.
U.N.’s human rights chief Navi Pillay has said she fears both sides could be guilty of war crimes in the Sri Lanka conflict and that more than 2,800 civilians could have been killed since late January.
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