26 March 2009 : Briefing on the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka by John Holmes , UN

Full text of John Holmes brief to the UN Council: Briefing on the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka John Holmes, Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator 26 March 2009 Thank you, Mr. President, for this opportunity to brief members of the Council about the current humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka. I also […]

ICRC : Sri Lanka: ever more sick and wounded evacuated from conflict area to hospital

Since 10 February the ICRC has evacuated thousands of people from conflict-weary northern Sri Lanka to Trincomalee district for medical treatment. Martin Hermann, an ICRC surgeon, speaks about the evacuated patients and his work. Why is the ICRC evacuating civilians out of the Vanni? As fighting between Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers […]

Eyewitness reports horrific experiences at makeshift hospital – Mr Theyva, a local humanitarian worker in War Zone

Eyewitness reports horrific experiences at makeshift hospital – Mr Theyva, a local humanitarian worker in War Zone 1st April 2009 Humanitarian worker Theivendran (Theyva) at Puthumaaththa’lan makeshift hospitalVoice: Eyewitness account by Theyva (1/2) Humanitarian worker Theivendran (Theyva) at Puthumaaththa’lan makeshift hospitalVoice: Eyewitness account by Theyva (2/2)    Further excerpts from Theyvendran’s eyewitness account “We have […]

Sri Lanka – “Disgraceful” failure to identify those responsible for newspaper editor’s murder three months ago

8 April 2009 Reporters Without Borders has gathered information from various sources that supports the theory that the Sri Lankan authorities are blocking the investigation into the murder of Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunga in Colombo on 8 January, exactly three months ago today.Government officials, including Keheliya Rambukwella, said at the end of January that […]

10th April 2009 : Bloodbath on the beach imminent – Sri Lankan Government intensify attack on tamil civilians living in ‘Safe zone’

Sri Lankan Government intensifies it attack ( indiscriminate shelling and gun fire ) on tamil civilians living in ‘Safe zone’ and a bloodbath on the beach imminent is imminent a health worker attached to puthumaththalan makeshift hospital told to WWW today ( 10th April 2009). Some photos from the war zone obtained by WWW are below.

Immediate humanitarian truce needed in Sri Lanka to help trapped civilians – Amnesty International

17 April 2009 An official two-day ceasefire in Sri Lanka which ended on Wednesday has not helped to end the suffering of around 100,000 civilians trapped in the conflict zone.According to media reports, John Holmes, the United Nations (UN) under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said that the 48-hour break in hostilities to allow aid […]