Humanitarian
agencies in Sri Lanka are struggling to cope with the dramatic
increase in Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who have fled
their homes in the past week due to an upsurge in the conflict
in the eastern district of Batticaloa. Close to 60,000 people
have left their homes in central and western areas of the district
and have taken refuge in the vicinity of Batticaloa town, swelling
the numbers of IDPs already sheltering there to 157,000 (source:
Government
of Sri Lanka).
“In many places I saw people camped by the side of the
road”, explains Susil Perera, Executive Director of Disaster
Management with the Sri Lanka Red Cross. “Most of them
arrived in Batticaloa with little more than the clothes they
were wearing – the main priority now is to provide them
with food and shelter”.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is at
the forefront of the humanitarian effort to assist the IDPs,
many of whom are being temporarily housed in welfare centers,
schools, temples and other public buildings. The staff and volunteers
of the Batticaloa Branch of the Sri Lanka Red Cross (SLRCS)
are playing a key role with up to 50 volunteers supporting the
relief effort. Some are working closely with the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - providing tents to shelter
the new arrivals and carrying out water and sanitation, health,
and tracing activities in eight IDP camps. The ICRC and SLRCS
are also distributing non-food relief items that include hygiene
kits and essential household items to 2,800 IDP families.
Other Red Cross and Red Crescent partners are also active on
the ground including the British, Hong Kong and German Red Cross
Societies. Their field staff are working with the SLRCS on a
short term relief operation that will meet the immediate food
needs of 5,000 IDPs in Kaliwanchikudy division which lies 20
kilometers outside of Batticaloa town.
The three Red Cross Societies have all been running tsunami
recovery projects in Batticaloa District since 2005. “We
stepped in to support the Sri Lanka Red Cross with extra staff
and logistical and financial support so that they could get
the job done”, explains Ben Mountfield, Country Coordinator
of the British Red Cross, adding, “we are already scaling
up the operation to reach 9,000 people by the end of the week”.
Distributions of food, firewood and cooking utensils will be
made to about 10 temporary camps in Kaliwanchikudy over the
next four weeks. In the past week Red Cross volunteers have
helped to set up communal kitchens in the camps where cooked
food is prepared and distributed by IDPs. The kitchens will
be run for a couple of weeks until families receive their own
cooking equipment and regular supplies of dry rations are reaching
the camps. The SLRCS is appointing 4 team leaders who will each
manage up to five volunteers. These teams will supervise distributions
and will also liaise with camp managers to identify and resolve
any problems.
The SLRCS together with the German and Hong Kong Red Cross has
also been actively involved in the World Food Programme’s
(WFP) broader food distribution programme in Batticaloa district
for 70,000 people that began last September when the conflict
intensified around the town of Vaharai. ‘In November one
of the main problems we faced were access and security but now
we face a huge logistical challenge with so many people arriving
in such a short period’, says Tim Hibbert, Country Coordinator
of the Hong Kong Red Cross.
Everyone has a role to play. The ICRC is involved in coordination
and security clearance, SLRCS provides the manpower to help
with distributions, WFP provides the food and the German and
Hong Kong Red Cross provide funding, transportation and logistics
infrastructure. On average, SLRCS volunteers have been carrying
out more than 100 food distributions each month.
The Italian Red Cross has also been involved in the response
to the current IDP crisis. They have been funding two SLRCS
mobile health teams comprised of a doctor, two nurses and a
volunteer. The teams leave Batticaloa town every morning and
are currently carrying out an average of 300 consultations with
IDPs in camps and local communities who do not have regular
access to health services.
In recent weeks SLRCS volunteers have carried out non-food relief
distributions that include clothing, kerosene lamps and fuel
to almost 10,000 IDP families. These items have been purchased
with support from the German, Italian, American and Irish Red
Cross Societies. In Colombo, the International Federation is
currently transferring stocks of non-food relief items sufficient
for 2,000 families – to the SLRCS to bolster their emergency
stocks. These items include hygiene kits, kitchen sets, clothing
and sleeping mats.
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Sri
Lanka Red Cross volunteers at the Palachaloi IDP camp
distribute relief supplies to people displaced by the
conflict. Close to 60,000 people have left their homes
in central and western areas of Batticaloa district and
have taken refuge in the vicinity of Batticaloa town,
swelling the numbers of IDPs already sheltering there
to 157,000 (source: Government of Sri Lanka). (p15511)
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Displaced
children in Batticaloa are getting three meals a day thanks
to the communal kitchens supported by the Sri Lanka Red
Cross and the broader International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement. (p15512)
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Sri
Lanka Red Cross volunteers help set up a communal kitchen
at Onthachchimadam camp, Kaliwanchikudy, 20 kilometers
outside of Batticaloa town. Kitchens like these are being
run until displaced families receive their own cooking
equipment. (p15513)
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