I've been reading many posts on pro-LTTE websites claiming that the relief camps run by the Sri Lankan government are little more than concentration camps and that the civilians in those camps have limited access to food and medicine.
Interestingly enough John Holmes, the UN's senior humanitarian official toured these government run camps today (Friday the 20th of Febuary). His findings concluded that food and shelter are adequate and that the camps for Sri Lanka's displaced appeared to meet international standards.
Funny how the pro-LTTE terrorist websites all got their facts completely wrong. I guess their source for this information must be the individuals who are shooting at civilians trying to exit the conflict areas...
Disappearances, Torture and Sexual Violence Continue After War’s End
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Although Sri Lanka’s civil war ended 15 years ago, members of the Tamil
community are still being disappeared and subjected to torture and sexual
violence,...
2 days ago
I think many of the articles mentioning concentration camps were referring to the prospective 'towns' being proposed by the GoSL*. These latter camps are much more controversial because the initial plans set out that displaced people would have to inhabit them for up to three years and that the military was to be in charge of oversight and granting exits.
ReplyDeleteThe current camps, including I think the ones Holmes is discussing, are the usual IDP camps that scatter Sri Lanka. These are unfortunate places, I'm sure, but the 'concentraton camp' label has, as far as I know, not been applied to these.
*For example, this article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5721635.ece
Actually no. If you look through the linked article and analyze the report Holmes submitted you'll find that he visted both types of camps.
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