Michael Roberts
As with Eelam War IV the Western media juggernaut, primed and fed by the extensive LTTE networks abroad, mounted an effective disinformation campaign on this topic. One illustration was when Jeremy Page of the BBC reported in June 2009 that 1400 persons were dying per week in the Manik Farm camps.
Coping with the influx of internal Tamil IDPS from late 2008 onwards was in fact a huge administrative and humanitarian problem with security implications. The task was faced by the Government of Sri Lanka and a collection of INGOS and NGOs with the support of monetary aid provided by the Western governments and UN agencies and with a Coordinating Committee chaired by Mahinda Samarasinghe keeping an eye on proceedings.
Annet Royce (standing) and Sewalanak Cooking team at Omanthai transit camp in mid-May 2009 preparing food packets for IDPS bussed in from war front on way to Manik Farm Camps
I begin by listing
- the UN/ICRC and I/NGOs working with New IDPs – Access to Camps – Vavuniya” and
- adding details on the agencies provide by ANNET ROYCE, head of SEWALANKA, at Vavuniya (a Catholic Tamil aid worker from Jaffna whose husband was an officer with the World Food Programme.
I note here that I interviewed Annette Royce on 2nd June 2010 amidst several other interviews in Vavuniya and that many aid workers (of several nationalities/ethnicities) had been working their butts out for many months since early 2009.
Ia. UN/ICRC and I/NGOs working with New IDPs – Access to Camps – Vavuniya
| # | Acronym | Name of Agency | Working in New IDP Camps | Have Access to Camps |
| United Nations | Access provided from the beginning | |||
| 1 | UNHCR | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees | Y | Y |
| 2 | UNICEF | United Nations Children Fund | Y | Y |
| 3 | UNOCHA | United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs | Y | Y |
| 4 | UNWFP | United Nations World Food Programme | Y | Y |
| IOs | Access provided from the beginning | |||
| 5 | IOM | International Organization for Migration | Y | Y |
| 6 | ICRC | International Committee for Red Cross | Y | Y |
| 7 | GRC | German Red Cross | Y | Y |
| 8 | CRC | Canadian Red Cross | Y | Y |
| 08 agencies | All have access | |||
| INGOs | Access to camps provided under the supervision of he Government Agent as implementing partners of the UN/IOs | |||
| 1 | ACTED | Y | Y | |
| 2 | CAM | Y | Y | |
| 3 | CARE | CARE International | Y | Y |
| 4 | DRC | Danish Refugee Council | Y | Y |
| 5 | FORUT | FORUT International | Y | Y |
| 6 | HI | Handicap International | Y | Y |
| 7 | RI | Relief International | Y | Y- some sites |
| 8 | MSF | Medecins Sans Frontieres | Y | Y |
| 9 | MA | Muslin Aid | Y | Y |
| 10 | NRC | Norwegian Refugee Council | Y | Y |
| 11 | OXFAM | OXFAM GB | Y | Y |
| 12 | SCiSL | Save the Children – Sri Lanka | Y | Y |
| 13 | SOLIDAR | SOLIDAR | Y | Y |
| 14 | UMCOR | United Methodist Committee on Relief | Y | Y |
| 15 | Welthungerhife | Welthungerhife | Y | Y |
| 16 | World Vision | World Vision Lanka | Y | Y |
| 17 | WUSC | World University Service of Canada | Y | Y |
| 18 | ZOA | ZOA Refugee care Netherlands | Y | Y |
| 18 agencies | All have access | |||
| NGOs | Limited staff have access to camps with permission from Government Agent | |||
| 1 | ADT | Alliance Development Trust | Y | Y |
| 2 | CARITAS/Valvuthayam | Y | Y | |
| 3 | CEFCO | Y | Y | |
| 4 | CCCWD | Y | Y | |
| 5 | CHA | Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies | Y | Y |
| 6 | CTF | Y | Y | |
| 7 | FIRM | Y | Y | |
| 8 | FOSDOO | Y | Y | |
| 9 | FPA | Y | Y | |
| 10 | FRC | Y | Y | |
| 11 | JRS | Y | Y | |
| 12 | HRC | Human Rights Commission | Y | Y |
| 13 | LEADS | Y | Y | |
| 14 | NGACDO | Y | Y | |
| 15 | OfERR | Y | Y | |
| 16 | ORHAN | Y | Y | |
| 17 | RDF | Y | Y | |
| 18 | Sarvodaya, | Y | Y | |
| 19 | SA | Y | Y | |
| 20 | Sewalanka | Sewalanka Foundation | Y | Y |
| 21 | SEED | Y | Y | |
| 22 | SHADE | Y | Y | |
| 23 | SLRCS | Sri Lanka Red Cross Society | Y | Y |
| 24 | WDC | Y | Y | |
| 25 | Y Gro | Y | Y | |
| 26 | Youth for Christ | Y | Y | |
| 26 agencies | All have access | |||
| Total | 52 agencies | All have access |
Note: Access to camps provided under prior approval of Government Agent
Ib. SUMMARY LIST provided by ANNET ROYCE, head of Sewalanka, Vavuniya ….. email to Roberts, 19 July 2010 ..….with a note indicating that this list is incomplete.
UN Agencies – UNHCR, UNICEF, World Health Organization (WHO), UNWFP(World food Program),UNOCHA,IOM
International Organizations – ZOA, World Vision, CARE, Welthungerhilfe, UMCOR, ASB, Relief International, DRC, NRC, Mercy Malaysia, Muslim Aid, LEADS, Caritas, JRS, OXFAM GB, OXFAM Australia, ACTED, Save the Children, FORUT, ADSL, CORDAID, UMCOR Medical Team,
Red Cross community – ICRC, SLRC, GRC
National Organization – Sarvodaya, Sewalanka Foundation, RDF, SEED
District Based organization – FOSDOO, NGAGDO, WDC, ORHAN, VOCOD
ALSO SEE
Michael Roberts: “Omanthai! Omanthai! Succour for the Tamil Thousands,‘ 9 August 2010, https://thuppahi.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/omanthai-omanthai-succour-for-the-tamil-thousands/
Wikipedia: “Internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internally_displaced_persons_in_Sri_Lanka
