Tracking: Civilian Casualties Skyrocketing in Sri Lanka
Currently the worst place in the world is a small strip of land in northern Sri Lanka, where tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped on the front lines between the Sri Lankan army and the rebel Tamil Tigers.
Since the last post on Sri Lanka yesterday, the situation has continued to deteriorate.
Developments in the last twenty-four hours:
- A confidential UN report - leaked by diplomatic sources - estimates that 6,432 civilians have been killed and 13,946 wounded in the past three months alone. During that time, casualty rates have skyrocketed.
According to the UN, in late January an average of 33 civilians were killed each day; by April, the average had jumped to 116 civilians killed per day. As the AP reports, "[m]ore than 5,500 of those killed were inside a government-declared 'no-fire' zone."
[To put those figures in perspective, the AU / UN peacekeeping force in Darfur estimates a total of 496 civilians killed in Darfur during all of 2008.]
- According to the UN, as many as 50,000 remain trapped behind the Tamil Tiger front lines.
- That said, the Sri Lankan government estimates that 140,000 civilians have fled the fighting in the past five days alone. (See the video above.)
- This mass exodus threatens to overwhelm the existing humanitarian response. According to the UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka:
“I saw infants with dysentery, malnourished children and women, untended wounds, and people dressed in the ragged clothing they’ve been wearing for months. We need funds for all the basics, like food, medicine, water, sanitation, nutrition, shelter, and clothing.”
An article on AlertNet painted an equally grim picture:
"Camps are bursting at the seams, with one aid worker saying some families are living in a space the size of a sofa. Hospitals are also overflowing as doctors work round the clock to treat civilians emerging from the conflict area with horrific blast injuries."
For a map of the area, see here. (For a map showing how humanitarian space and access have become increasingly restricted, see here.)
- To make matters worse, there's little funding to expand relief activities. The UN has received less than a third of the funds it requested to respond to the emergency. UN OCHA released a statement earlier today warning that health, water, sanitation, shelter and education are "significantly under-funded".
- Bureaucratic delays by the Sri Lankan government are also hindering the humanitarian response.
- For a more in-depth look at the situation, please see this excellent article by Reuters.
- If you would like to learn more about how aid agencies are responding - or donate - please see the following websites: CARE, Christian Aid, International Committee of the Red Cross, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and Save the Children,
COMMENTS (2)