No Safety No Escape:

Children and the Escalating Armed Conflict in Sri Lanka

April 2008


WATCHLIST MISSION STATEMENT

The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict strives to end violations against children in armed conflicts and to guarantee their rights. As a global network, Watchlist builds partnerships among local, national and international nongovernmental organizations, enhancing mutual capacities and strengths. Working together, we strategically collect and disseminate information on violations against children in conflicts in order to influence key decision-makers to create and implement programs and policies that effectively protect children.

Notes on Methodology:

Important Updates

Photo Credits:

Cover Photo: Watchlist

Please Note: The people represented in the photos in this report are not necessarily themselves victims or survivors of human rights violations or other abuses.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Acronyms  6

Indicators  1

International Standards  3

Executive Summary  4

Context  8

Roots of the Armed Conflict 8

Increasing Complexity: The Emergence of the TMVP/Karuna faction  9

Cease-fire Agreement and its Dissolution  9

“Military Solution” and Its Impact on Civilians  10

Need for Independent Human Rights Monitoring  11

Humanitarian Crisis and Lack of Access  12

Threats against Human Rights Defenders and the Media  13

Refugees and IDPs  14

Lives of Internally Displaced Persons  14

Lives of Refugees  15

Forced to Return  16

Discriminatory Return Policies  17

Health  19

Malnutrition  19

Safe Water and Sanitation  20

Diseases  21

Attacks on Hospitals and Access to Health Care  21

HIV/AIDS  24

Stigmatization  25

Prevention and Care  25

Education  27

Schools under Attack  27

School Closures  28

Shortage of Teachers and Related Stresses  28

Schoolchildren under Stress  29

Gender-Based Violence  32

Prevalence and Types of Conflict-Related GBV   32

Obstacles and Deterrents to Reporting  33

Landmines and ERW    36

Assessment and Casualties  36

Mine Action  38

Mine Risk Education and Survivor Assistance  38

Small Arms  40

GoSL Actions: National Commission  41

Disarmament 41

Containing the Supply of Small Arms  41

Child Soldiers  43

Pledges and Commitments  43

Monitoring and Reporting Child Recruitment 44

Scope of the Problem: Trends of Child Recruitment and Use  45

Abduction and Recruitment of Children  46

Living as a Child Soldier  49

Girl Soldiers  49

Informal DDR for Children  50

Other Violations and Vulnerabilities  53

Trafficking  53

Child Labor  53

Child Prostitution  54

Abuse in Orphanages  54

Arbitrary and Illegal Arrests, Forced Evictions, Extrajudicial Killings and Torture  55

UN Security Council Actions  57

UN Secretary-General’s Reports to the Security Council 57

UNSC Resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict 57

Implementation of Security Council Resolutions  58

Recommendations  63

To the Governing Authorities of Sri Lanka  63

To the LTTE   66

To the TMVP/Karuna Faction  67

To the UN Security Council 67

To the 1612 Taskforce and Related Organizations  69

To the Humanitarian Community  70

To Donors  71

To Other Governments  71

Annex: 1612 Perspectives  73

Endnotes  76

Sources  80

Map of Sri Lanka  91


 List of Acronyms

AHRC                                    Asian Human Rights Commission

AI                               Amnesty International

ARV                           Antiretroviral Treatment

CAC                           Children and Armed Conflict

CFA                           Cease-fire Agreement                                                                     

CHAP                        Common Humanitarian Action Plan

CoI                             Presidential Commission of Inquiry

CPA                           Center for Policy Alternatives

DDR                           Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration

ERW                          Explosive Remnants of War

ESDC                        Educational Skills Development Centre

EU                              European Union

GBV                           Gender-based Violence

GoSL                          Government of Sri Lanka

HRC                           Human Rights Commission

HRW                         Human Rights Watch

HSZ                           High Security Zone

IASC                          Inter-Agency Standing Committee

ICBL                          International Campaign to Ban Landmines

ICC                            International Criminal Court

ICG                            International Crisis Group

ICRC                         International Committee of the Red Cross

IDMC                         Internal Displacement Monitoring Center

IDPs                           Internally Displaced Persons

IIGEP                        International Independent Group of Eminent Persons

ILO                            International Labor Organization

IMC                           International Medical Corps

IMSMA                     Information Management System for Mine Action

INGO                         International Nongovernmental Organization

LTTE                         Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

MAG                          Mine Advisory Group

MRE                          Mine Risk Education

MSF                           Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)

NGO                          Nongovernmental Organization

NCAPISA                  National Commission Against the Proliferation of Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects

NCPA                         National Child Protection Authority

NHAPP                      National HIV/AIDS Prevention Project

NPC                           National Peace Council

NSCMA                     National Steering Committee for Mine Action

OCHA                       Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

OHCHR                     Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

P-TOMS                    Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure

SAHR                         South Asians for Human Rights

SLMM                        Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission

SSR                             Security Sector Reform

STF                             Security Task Force

STI                             Sexually Transmitted Infection

TRO                           Tamil Rehabilitation Organization

TMVP                                    Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal

UN                              United Nations

UNAIDS                    The Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS

UNESCO                   UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

UNFPA                      UN Population Fund

UNHCR                     UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF                    UN Children’s Fund

UNICEF ROSA        UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia

UNIFEM                   UN Development Fund for Women

UNMAO                    UN Mine Action Office

UNMAS                     UN Mine Action Service

UN PoA                      UN Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects

UNSC                         UN Security Council

USAID                       US Agency for International Development

WCRWC                   Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children

WHO                         World Health Organization

WFP                           World Food Program


Indicators

INDICATORS

Sri Lanka

Population

Estimated 20.7 million people in 2005, including an estimated 6.1 million children (UNICEF, 2007)

Gross National Income (GNI) per Capita

US $1,300 in 2006 (World Bank, 2007)

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

Estimated 97,000 refugees in Tamil Nadu ( India ) as of December 2007, including an estimated 20,000 refugees from the post-January 2006 conflict

Estimated 456,000 IDPs as of November 2007, including an estimated 189,000 from the post-April 2006 conflict

Children constitute approximately 39 percent of IDPs (UNHCR, January 2008)

Infant Mortality

12/1,000 in 2005 (UNICEF, 2007)

HIV/AIDS

Less than 0.1 percent estimated prevalence rate as of 2005 (UNAIDS, WHO and UNICEF, 2006)

Education

Estimated 97 percent net enrollment rate for primary education, not accounting for regional differences or actual student attendance as of 2005; near gender parity in school enrollment (UNESCO, 2007)

Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

Conflict-related GBV, including sexual violence in IDP camps, trafficking, sexual exploitation, early marriages and sexual harassment at military checkpoints. Specific data on prevalence of GBV is scant

Trafficking

As of 2004, an estimated 5,000 Sri Lankan children had been trafficked for commercial sex, domestic work and child recruitment (ILO, 2004)

Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW)

Estimated 99 sq km of land is contaminated by ERW and 730 villages are contaminated by landmines, according to GoSL estimates (Landmine Monitor Report 2007)

Small Arms

Estimated 1 to 2.4 million small arms in circulation in Sri Lanka, half of which are owned by civilians (independent experts, cited in Small Arms Survey, 2004) Estimated 45,000 small arms in circulation according to GoSL officials (SAS, 2004)  

Child Soldiers

6,248 cases of child recruitment by the LTTE, including 2,469 girls, were reported to UNICEF between January 2002 and December 2007. 453 cases of child recruitment, including one case of a girl, by the TMVP/Karuna faction with alleged complicity of the GoSL were reported to UNICEF between April 2004 and December 2007. Actual numbers of recruitment are thought to be significantly higher (UNICEF, 2008)

Abductions and Disappearances

More than 1,100 new abductions and “disappearances” of civilians, including children, reported between January 2006 and June 2007, mainly Tamils (HRW, August 2007)

Attacks on Humanitarian and Human Rights Workers

At least 28 humanitarian NGO workers were intentionally killed from January 2006 to November 2007 (UNOCHA, 2007)


International Standards

International Treaties Signed (S)/ Ratified (R)/ Acceded (A) (Year)

International Treaties Not Signed

·       Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) (R) (1991)

·       Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (R) (2000)

·       Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (R) (2006)

·       The Geneva Conventions of 1949 (R) (1959)

·       International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (A) (1980)

·       International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (A) (1980)

·       Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (A) (1982)

·       Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (A) (2004)

·       Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (A) (1950)

·       International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (R) (1991)

·       Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions of 1949

·       1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol

·       Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction (“Mine Ban Treaty”)

·       Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

·       Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

UN Security Council Resolutions on Sri Lanka

UN Security Council has not adopted any country specific resolutions on Sri Lanka

UN Security Council Resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict

1612 (July 2005), 1539 (April 2004), 1460 (January 2003), 1379 (November 2001), 1314 (August 2000), 1261 (August 1999)

Note: In September 2006, the Sri Lankan Supreme Court “declared that neither United Nations conventions signed by Sri Lanka nor the directives of monitoring bodies are binding on the country” according to a statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Sri Lanka: Supreme Court Removes Country from Obligations under International Law, Raises Unprecedented Questions for UN, September 18, 2006. [1]


Executive Summary

Sri Lanka ’s children have been embroiled in a brutal armed conflict which has killed more than 67,000 civilians in the last two decades and caused untold suffering among the Sri Lankan population. Gross human rights violations committed by Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) forces, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and armed breakaway groups, like the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP)/Karuna faction, have created a climate of constant fear and insecurity throughout the country.

Both the GoSL and the LTTE have restricted or denied the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to the Jaffna peninsula and the Vanni area in the North, certain areas in the East and GoSL-declared high security zones. Adding to considerable bureaucratic barriers, humanitarian and human rights workers have been increasingly harassed, threatened and even killed while carrying out their lifesaving work. Additionally, restrictions on the movement of civilians have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis by preventing civilians from escaping into safety or seeking assistance. Perpetrators commit violations against children and other civilians with impunity. Today, the establishment of an independent human rights monitoring system is more critical than ever since the recent dissolution of the cease-fire agreement and the subsequent withdrawal of the Nordic-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

Children throughout Sri Lanka face a broad spectrum of violations against their security and rights, perpetrated by various armed forces and groups. In this report, Watchlist illustrates this situation and provides practical recommendations for urgent actions needed to protect Sri Lankan children.

Refugees and IDPs

Between April 2006 and April 2007, the resumption of violent conflict displaced more than 300,000 people within Sri Lanka and forced more than 20,000 to seek safety in India .  Approximately half a million Sri Lankans had been displaced prior to April 2006. Children comprise approximately 39 percent of the displaced population.

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) suffer as a result of poor sanitary conditions and strained health facilities, as well as insufficient food supplies in host communities and IDP camps. The lack of security in and around the camps has exposed children to abduction, recruitment and sexual violence. Some IDP camps have become direct targets of military attacks. Similarly, Sri Lankan refugees in India live in difficult conditions. Though given minimal assistance by the Indian government, many live in refugee camps with outdated infrastructure from the 1980s and 1990s. In addition, approximately 23,000 Sri Lankan refugees living outside the camps are not entitled to any assistance.

Some Sri Lankan children have grown up in the confines of IDP or refugee settings. While finding durable solutions for IDPs and refugees is a priority, humanitarian organizations have considered the recent returns of many IDPs premature and have criticized the GoSL for forcing thousands of IDPs to return to insecure areas. The lack of clear policies and plans for IDPs has stirred tensions among various groups, mainly along ethnic lines.

Health

Armed conflict, displacement and restrictions in the delivery of humanitarian aid have increased Sri Lankans’ vulnerability to malnutrition and disease. In addition, many health facilities in the North and East have been damaged or destroyed. The World Food Program warned of an emerging humanitarian emergency in Jaffna and Batticaloa and an acute food and livelihood crisis in five other districts in the North and East in May 2007. Ongoing armed conflict and access restrictions have prevented people in conflict-affected areas from accessing life-saving medical care. Children in particular suffer under these conditions.

HIV/AIDS

At the end of 2005, the estimated national HIV prevalence rate among people between the ages of 15 and 49 was less than 0.1 percent in Sri Lanka, according to UNAIDS. Nonetheless, GoSL, international and national agencies warn that HIV may spread further among the population, particularly among older children, due to lack of awareness, stigmatization and unsafe sexual practices. Even health care personnel and officials in the education sector are known to have discriminated against individuals with HIV/AIDS. Armed conflict and consequent displacement have created conditions that make the spread of HIV more likely in the North and East.

Education

Sri Lanka ’s armed conflict has turned schools into military targets, IDP camps and military shelters. More than 250,000 children in Sri Lanka , mostly in the North and East, have been forced to interrupt their education due to the renewed outbreak of armed conflict in 2006. Military attacks had damaged or destroyed 261 schools as of September 2007 and their reconstruction has been delayed due to insecurity. The massive outflow of educational staff in recent years from conflict-affected areas has resulted in a serious lack of teachers in the North and East. Exceptionally high student dropout and absentee rates are prevalent in conflict areas, particularly among displaced children. Many students who remain in school require special attention as a result of distress due to conflict-related experiences or because they missed years of education.

Gender-Based Violence

There is a dearth of information about conflict-related cases of gender-based violence (GBV) in Sri Lanka , which makes it difficult to assess the nature and scope of the problem. However, anecdotal information suggests that this lack of information does not necessarily reflect the reality of the situation. Rather, it is likely that incidents of GBV have increased due to the armed conflict, yet incidents are not reported or systematically documented due to survivors’ fear of stigmatization or retribution and the lack of access to adequate and appropriate legal, medical and social services for them. 

Landmines and ERW

Before the 2002 cease-fire, the LTTE and the GoSL had used antipersonnel mines extensively throughout the conflict. The mines’ proximity to civilian settlements has endangered the lives of the war-affected populations in the North and East. Children accounted for 30 percent of casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in 2006. Lack of access to these areas due to mine contamination has hindered humanitarian assistance, economic reconstruction and the return of displaced people to their homes. Since the upsurge of violence in mid-2006, agencies have been forced to slow down or even halt demining efforts.  In some cases, clearance efforts may have been deliberately blocked by the military. Recent reports also point to renewed use of landmines by the LTTE, including claymore mines which are notorious for their indiscriminate and lethal effects on civilians.

Small Arms

The proliferation of illicit small arms has become one of the main barriers to achieving sustainable peace and human security for children and their communities in Sri Lanka . Independent experts estimate that 1 to 2.4 million small arms are in circulation in Sri Lanka , mostly owned by civilians. Despite its active participation in international efforts to stave off the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, the GoSL has not been able or willing to monitor or control the circulation of illicit arms in its territory. For its part, the LTTE has employed an effective network for guaranteeing a steady flow of small arms into the country. The European Union, as well as the United States and other countries have declared the LTTE a terrorist organization and introduced measures to prevent it from raising money for arms or other purposes.

Child Soldiers

Sri Lankan children currently face the ubiquitous threat of being abducted, recruited and used as soldiers whether they are in areas controlled by the GoSL or the LTTE. UNICEF’s child recruitment database, the authoritative source on child recruitment and use, documents 6,248 cases of child recruitment by the LTTE between January 2002 and December 2007, including many girls, and 453 cases of child recruitment by the TMVP/Karuna faction, with alleged complicity of the GoSL, between April 2004 and December 2007. However, UNICEF relies exclusively on voluntary reporting by parents and communities, therefore it is likely that the actual numbers are much higher.

Despite promises to do so, the GoSL has not yet conducted a credible and thorough investigation into the alleged complicity of certain elements of its security forces with the TMVP/Karuna faction in the recruitment of children. Both the LTTE and the TMVP/Karuna faction have been named by the UN Secretary-General as repeat offenders of this crime. There is currently no formal disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process for children, nor policies or programs to protect and reintegrate children who surrender to the GoSL or seek its protection after they escape from armed groups. 

Other Violations and Vulnerabilities

Sri Lankan children continue to face a spectrum of other violations of their security and rights, including trafficking, child labor, prostitution, abuse in orphanages and arbitrary and illegal arrests. While Sri Lankan children were vulnerable to these violations even before the armed conflict, anecdotal information suggests that incidents likely have increased due to the conflict.

Recommendations

In this report, the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict makes urgent recommendations to the GoSL, the LTTE, the TMVP/Karuna faction; the United Nations Security Council; the 1612 Taskforce in Sri Lanka ; the humanitarian community in Sri Lanka ; donors; and other governments. Of primary importance, is the call to all armed forces and groups in Sri Lanka to immediately halt violations against children. Additionally, all actors must take immediate action to protect children in Sri Lanka from further abuse and to find ways to assist and support those who have suffered the consequences of decades of armed conflict.


Context

Roots of the Armed Conflict

For more than two decades, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been fighting with the Sinhalese-dominated Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to establish an independent Tamil state or a degree of autonomy for Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka. For decades, the LTTE has accused the GoSL of discriminating against the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka ’s multi-ethnic state. [2]

After Sri Lanka ’s independence from Britain in 1948, the Sinhalese majority government passed a number of laws that barred Tamils from certain educational and employment opportunities. Most notably, Sinhala became the official language of Sri Lanka in 1956, [3] costing thousands of Tamils their civil service jobs. At the time, many Tamils staged demonstrations against these policies, demanding equal rights and adequate political representation. [4] The GoSL’s excessive use of force against the protesters incited counter force by emerging militant Tamil groups. What began as a largely nonviolent movement turned into a brutal civil war in the 1980s. Full-blown armed conflict broke out in 1983 after Tamil militants killed 13 GoSL troops, triggering violent ethnic riots and a massive displacement of Tamils.

The LTTE, under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran, emerged as the dominant Tamil armed group, violently eliminating its rivals. To solidify its territorial claims, the LTTE established a “quasi” state in parts of the Vanni area [5] , the northern mainland, controlling Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi and parts of Vavuniya and Mannar. [6]   Today, the LTTE administers government-like services in these territories, including a police force, justice system and tax regime. The Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) has effectively acted as the LTTE’s humanitarian wing. Most recently, the TRO has been accused of supporting the LTTE’s war efforts. [7] In addition to these institutions, the Tamil diaspora in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia provides a secure financial base for the LTTE’s military and other operations, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, Funding the “Final War,” LTTE Intimidation and Extortion in the Tamil Diaspora, March 14, 2006.

Sri Lanka ’s armed conflict has been characterized by massive human rights violations committed by both the GoSL and the LTTE. The LTTE has employed suicide bombers, landmines, claymore mines [8] and other explosive remnants of war (ERW), used children as soldiers and civilians as shields, abducted civilians, engaged in politically motivated killings and blocked water supplies from the civilian population.

Similarly, the GoSL has committed grave abuses of human rights, including indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardment of LTTE-controlled areas, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, torture, forced returns of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to unsafe areas and forced evictions. More recently, Sri Lankan security forces have been accused of complicity in the recruitment and use of child soldiers by the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP)/Karuna faction, a paramilitary group operating in the East. [9]

In what many describe as a war on civilians, gross human rights violations have created a climate of constant fear and insecurity. An estimated 67,000 civilians have lost their lives in the conflict between the LTTE and the GoSL since 1983, according to the United Nations, in United Nations Concerned by Civilian Deaths in Sri Lanka, January 2, 2007. At least 45 children were killed and 77 maimed due to armed conflict between November 1, 2006 and September 14, 2007, according to the 2007 Secretary-General’s Report on Children and Armed Conflict (S/2007/758, para. 24). Fighting has been concentrated in the North and East, but has also spilled into the South with the LTTE staging suicide bombings and other violence in Colombo and other areas. Today’s disregard for the rule of law, increased hostilities and rampant impunity have caused innumerable problems, including the polarization of communities, the militarization of the civilian population and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Extremely high levels of violence in the country have also led to the development of new and multiple armed breakaway factions.

Increasing Complexity: The Emergence of the TMVP/Karuna faction

The emergence of the TMVP/Karuna faction, an unregistered political party and paramilitary group, added to the volatile environment in Sri Lanka . Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, alias Colonel Karuna, the LTTE’s leading commander in the East, founded the TMVP/Karuna faction in March 2004 after splitting from the LTTE. The TMVP/Karuna faction allegedly cooperates with the GoSL to fight against the LTTE, according to HRW, Return to War. Human Rights under Siege, August 2007. This cooperation enabled the TMVP/Karuna faction to establish itself in the districts of Ampara, Trincomalee and Batticaloa. Although the GoSL officially regained control of these territories, its security forces have failed to disarm the TMVP/Karuna faction and other smaller paramilitary groups or to stop their human rights violations against the civilian population.

After leaving the TMVP/Karuna faction, Colonel Karuna was arrested in the UK on November 2, 2007, on pending immigration charges. Pillayan, the TMVP’s second in command, has declared himself the new leader of the TMVP/Karuna faction. However, internal power struggles within the faction have resulted in breakaway factions and increased human rights violations with no clearly identified group to hold accountable for violations.

Cease-fire Agreement and its Dissolution

In 2002, the GoSL and the LTTE signed a cease-fire agreement (CFA) brokered by Norway , and agreed to move towards a negotiated settlement. An independent monitoring mission, the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), initially comprised of staff from five Nordic countries ( Norway , Sweden , Finland , Denmark and Iceland ) [10] was established to investigate violations of the CFA. Peace talks between the GoSL and the LTTE started in September 2002 with Norway acting as the mediator. Four co-chairs ( Norway , the United States , Japan , and the European Union) were also designated to support the peace process, particularly post-conflict rehabilitation and development.

Despite this international support for the peace process, the LTTE unilaterally abandoned the process in April 2003, citing its exclusion from donor talks. The LTTE predicated future negotiations upon the acceptance of its proposal to establish a self-governing authority for the North and East. The GoSL opposed this demand viewing it as an effective secession of these territories. There have been several attempts to re-engage both parties in the peace process since then, most recently in October 2006. None of these have yet succeeded.

Between 2002 and 2005, the CFA led to some improvements in the human rights and humanitarian situation for civilians. Yet, political assassinations, child recruitment and ethnic clashes between Muslims and Tamils, often over unsettled land issues, continued.

Following the devastating Asian tsunami in December 2004, the GoSL and the LTTE agreed to cooperate in relief efforts as part of the Post-Tsunami Operational Management Structure (P-TOMS). Many donors tied assistance to shared aid structures, viewing this as an opportunity to overcome ethno-political barriers. However, the P-TOMS eventually collapsed following the Sri Lankan Supreme Court’s decision to render the shared aid system unconstitutional.

India , the United States , Canada and the UK , as well as other countries and the European Union (EU) have declared the LTTE a terrorist organization. The United States and the UK have suspended some aid to the GoSL in response to alleged human rights violations by military groups with which the GoSL cooperates. [11] Despite warnings and sanctions, violations of the CFA continued by both sides. The SLMM reported 4,181 violations of the CFA between February 2002 and April 2007, of which the vast majority, 3,830 violations, were committed by the LTTE.

On January 3, 2008, the GoSL officially abrogated the CFA of 2002, and the SLMM consequently terminated its operational activities in Sri Lanka on January 16, 2008. Top UN officials and many governments, including Japan , Norway , and the US , as well as the EU, raised concerns about the protection of civilians and humanitarian access to affected areas following the GoSL’s declaration. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an end to bloodshed through a political solution. 

“Military Solution” and Its Impact on Civilians

During the few years before the formal end of the cease-fire in 2008, the political climate had increasingly turned towards a resumption of hostilities. The assassination of Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in 2005 prompted the GoSL to enact the Emergency Regulations of August 2005, giving the security forces broad powers to arrest and detain civilians. After presidential elections in November 2005, the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition government led by President Mahinda Rajapakse of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, assumed a more confrontational stance against the LTTE than the preceding government and expanded the Emergency Regulations in December 2006. The LTTE, for its part, reinforced belligerence with a series of suicide attacks and political killings.

The GoSL, likely encouraged by territorial gains in the East, appears determined to defeat the LTTE militantly before entering into further peace negotiations. To achieve this “military solution,” it is widely believed that the GoSL is collaborating with the TMVP/Karuna faction, using the group’s insider knowledge of the LTTE, and its intelligence and troops, including child soldiers, to fight the LTTE. The GoSL also raised its military expenditure by almost 20 percent from 2007 to 2008, according to BBC News, “Sri Lanka Defense Budget to Soar,” October 10, 2007. In the preceding year, the government had raised military expenditure by 40 percent, according to The Economist, “A War Strange as Fiction,” June 7, 2007. The LTTE has similarly engaged in a massive funding campaign, urging and, in some cases, coercing members of the Tamil diaspora to contribute to a “final war” according to HRW, Funding the “Final War,” LTTE Intimidation and Extortion in the Tamil Diaspora, March 14, 2006. In preparation, it has re-engaged in a campaign of “compulsory training and mobilization of civilians” in Vanni since 2006, according to OCHA, Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP) for Sri Lanka 2007, July 17, 2007.

Already, efforts to achieve a military solution have resulted in massive human rights violations and a humanitarian crisis in the conflict-affected areas. More than 3,000 civilians have been killed in the conflict since the renewal of fighting in 2006, according to the UN, United Nations Concerned by Civilian Deaths in Sri Lanka, January 2, 2007. More than 50 civilians were killed in aerial bombardments, shelling and claymore mine attacks in the last two weeks of November 2007, according to Amnesty International (AI)/HRW, Human Rights Council: Urgent Action Needed to End Abuses in Sri Lanka, December 7, 2007. In addition, reports indicate that fighting has intensified in the northern areas of Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi, Mannar, Vavuniya, Weli Oya and Jaffna, as well as at sea.

Need for Independent Human Rights Monitoring

The absence of a functioning human rights monitoring system in Sri Lanka has put the lives of those speaking out against human rights violations in jeopardy while allowing perpetrators to commit crimes with impunity. National and international human rights organizations have thus been demanding the establishment of an independent monitoring mission under the auspices of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). [12] This office would receive complaints of human rights violations and conduct appropriate investigations. [13] This need for monitoring became even more critical with the dissolution of the CFA and withdrawal of the SLMM. Yet, the GoSL continues to oppose an independent human rights monitoring mission, referring to existing mechanisms and commissions established by the government such as the Human Rights Commission (HRC), the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) [14] and a number of other commissions. [15]

Humanitarian Crisis and Lack of Access

The current armed conflict has triggered humanitarian emergencies in two districts and acute food and livelihood crises in five others in the North and East, according to the World Food Program (WFP), Executive Brief: Sri Lanka Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase Classification (IPC), May 2007. The upsurge in violence since April 2006 has also caused the displacement of more than 300,000 people. Approximately 189,000 of these people were still displaced as of November 2007 according to UNHCR (see below: Refugees and IDPs). Restrictions on the movement of civilians have also exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. For example, people can only leave the Vanni area if issued a local pass by the LTTE and on the condition that one family member is left behind (S/2007/758, para. 40).

The GoSL and the LTTE do not provide the people living in these crisis areas with adequate assistance. Instead, they have at times obstructed the delivery of vital humanitarian assistance. Humanitarian organizations are especially concerned about the lack of access to the Jaffna peninsula in the North, the Vanni, certain areas in the East and parts of the country declared by the GoSL as high security zones (HSZs). Beginning in August 2006, the government closed the A9 highway, the only land route linking Jaffna to the rest of the country. The LTTE, in turn, put up a sea blockade, cutting off 600,000 people in Jaffna from aid supplies, according to AI Report 2007. Humanitarian programs also continue to face restrictions on operational space. For example, in June 2007, if permitted through a checkpoint at Madavachchiya, a main highway intersection, humanitarian trucks were forced to offload goods for inspection and then had to transfer them to other trucks, which delayed the provision of assistance and jeopardized lives.

The conditions for humanitarian access improved somewhat in some areas between August 2007 and November 2007, according to IRIN, “ Sri Lanka : Humanitarian access improving in resettlement areas in East,” November 21, 2007. Although relief and humanitarian agencies were still required to go through a cumbersome bureaucratic process to access certain regions, particularly in the East, a new government system allowed them access to most conflict-affected areas, including resettlement sites.  Nevertheless, many agencies, especially those dealing with protection issues, are still rarely permitted to access these areas.

Humanitarian aid workers are increasingly being harassed, threatened and even killed in the North and East. In many instances, the LTTE has forced national aid workers to join its ranks or to contribute money or labor to its war efforts, according to the UN Secretary-General’s 2007 report on children and armed conflict in Sri Lanka (S/2007/758, para. 40). Since January 2006, at least 28 humanitarian aid workers have been intentionally killed, according to IRIN, “ Sri Lanka : UN urges investigations of deaths and more security for aid workers,” November 14, 2007. This includes 17 Sri Lankan aid workers from the international NGO Action Contre la Faim (Action Against Hunger, ACF) who were murdered, execution style, allegedly by Sri Lankan security personnel, in the eastern town of Muttur in the Trincomalee district in August 2006. To date, no one has been held accountable for the crime. UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sir John Holmes, described Sri Lanka as one of  “the most dangerous places in the world for aid workers” in an interview with Reuters, “Sri Lanka Rebukes UN Aid Chief Over Safety Fears,” August 10, 2007. This heightened aggression against aid workers has caused many NGOs to increase their security measures, limit their movement and scale down their operations or even suspend them in some cases.

Threats against Human Rights Defenders and the Media

Free media and information exchange has become elusive in Sri Lanka ’s current climate of fear and intimidation against journalists, local and international NGOs, humanitarian workers and human rights activists. [16] International human rights and humanitarian NGOs are frequently accused of clandestine support for the LTTE in the local media or on official GoSL websites. Those who publicly criticize the security forces or the government’s human rights record risk harassment, abduction and death. [17] Accusations against international NGOs and UN agencies undermine the credibility of humanitarian and human rights work to the detriment of people in need. Moreover, they endanger the lives of humanitarian and human rights workers.

Security forces are allowed to arrest members of the media and civil society organizations for peaceful activities protected under Sri Lankan and international law under the emergency Prevention and Prohibition of Terrorism and Specified Terrorist Activities regulations of December 6, 2006. [18] The GoSL also established a Parliamentary Select Committee responsible for investigating NGO activity in Sri Lanka .

In those areas that have been blocked to the UN, NGOs and the media, the government or the LTTE are the only information sources, resulting in unbalanced information and propaganda. Both the GoSL and the LTTE want to persuade their respective constituency of their military successes to justify the costs and sacrifices, according to the National Peace Council (NPC), a Sri Lankan think tank that supports the nonviolent settlement of armed conflict.


Refugees and IDPs

The resumption of violent conflict caused the new displacement of more than 300,000 people within Sri Lanka from April 2006 to April 2007 and the movement of an estimated 20,000 refugees to India , according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), Civilians in the Way of Conflict: Displaced People in Sri Lanka, September 26, 2007. The newly displaced persons originate mainly from the areas of Batticaloa, Vanni, Trincomalee, Ampara and Jaffna, according to UNHCR.  Reflecting the ethnic make up of these regions, the majority of them are Tamils and Muslims, according to IDMC.  In addition, approximately half a million people were displaced by conflict prior to April 2006 and by the 2004 tsunami, according to IDMC. Thousands of IDPs who are not registered are not included in these figures [19] and do not benefit from any official assistance. [20]

Even after more than a decade, a number of IDPs have not received adequate assistance to end their displacement. While tens of thousands of people have returned home spontaneously or through government-run resettlement programs, a total of 456,000 displaced persons remained in Sri Lanka as of November 2007. This includes 189,000 IDPs from the post-April 2006 conflict. A total of 97,000 Sri Lankan refugees were still living in India ’s Tamil Nadu state as of December 2007, according to UNHCR.

The causes of displacement are many, as parties to the conflict have not spared the civilian population and in some cases have specifically targeted them. Civilians have fled violent clashes, landmine and ERW contamination and recruitment of children (see below: Child Soldiers). Some families fled in a desperate attempt to spare their children from recruitment by either the LTTE or the TMVP/Karuna faction, according to AI, Waiting to Go Home - The Plight of the Internally Displaced, June 29, 2006.

Children have been acutely affected by displacement in Sri Lanka . According to UNHCR’s estimates, children constitute approximately 39 percent of the displaced population. In the turmoil of the armed conflict, thousands have been separated from their families and live in vulnerable circumstances without proper guardianship.

Lives of Internally Displaced Persons

For many IDPs the flight from their homes was the first phase of a strenuous and long displacement which they initially envisioned as a temporary situation. The majority of IDPs live in government-run IDP camps, so-called “welfare centers,” which have been established in public buildings. Others stay with host families or relatives.

The arrival of large numbers of IDPs has strained sanitary and health facilities, as well as food supplies in host communities and IDP camps (see below: Health). In some clinics, one doctor must see on average 150 IDP patients per day compared to the 50 patients per day recommended by the internationally accepted SPHERE standards for humanitarian relief in emergencies, according to International Medical Corps (IMC), Save Sri Lanka ’s Neglected Population, IMC’s Mobile Clinics Bring Health Care to Those Who Need it Most, August 31, 2007. The lack of adequate sanitation facilities in many camps heightens the risk of infections. On average, more than 16 individuals must share one toilet in the government-run IDP camps in Jaffna, according to the Danish Refugee Council Sri Lanka and UNHCR, Sri Lanka: Jaffna Welfare Centre Assessment – Final Report, July 31, 2007. Worse yet, many of the toilets were not usable, according to the same assessment. Malnutrition has become another serious concern in many IDP camps, particularly for infants and children under 5 years old, according to OCHA, CHAP: Sri Lanka 2007. In many instances, restricted humanitarian access to the displaced populations has added to the difficult plight of these children.

The lack of security in and around camps also poses a severe risk for IDP children in Sri Lanka . They are exposed to threats from armed groups roaming around camps and are vulnerable to recruitment into armed groups, including cases of abduction and recruitment from the camps (see below: Child Soldiers). Over a period of 18 months in 2006 and 2007, more than 200 protection incidents were reported in the government-run IDP camps in Jaffna, according to Danish Refugee Council Sri Lanka and UNHCR, Sri Lanka: Jaffna Welfare Centre Assessment – Final Report, July 31, 2007. Afraid of abductions en route to or in school, some displaced parents have forbidden their children to attend school according to AI. The lack of security in the camps has also reportedly exposed women and girls to increased levels of domestic and sexual violence (see below: GBV).

In many instances, military sites are in close proximity to IDP camps, thereby endangering both IDPs and humanitarian workers. In fact, some IDP camps, including schools used as temporary shelters, have become direct targets of military attacks (see below: Education). In addtion to livelihoods and humanitarian access, the UN Special Representative on Human Rights of IDPs, Walter Kälin, has highlighted the need for physical security as a key concern of IDPs, UN Press Release, “UN Expert Emphasizes Sustainable and Durable Solutions for Sri Lanka’s Internally Displaced Persons,” December 27, 2007.

Lives of Refugees

An estimated 20,000 Tamil refugees arrived in camp sites in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu between 2006 and 2007, raising the number of refugees living in the camps to 74,000 people as of December 2007, according to UNHCR. After passing through a transit facility, they usually move into one of the 117 refugee sites where the Indian government gives them basic assistance. New arrivals in particular need this assistance after having spent a large portion of their savings and sold their belongings to pay for the passage, according to The Washington Times, “Tamils Flee Sri Lankan War for Jobs in India; Families Sell Possessions to Make Journey,” November 18, 2006. In addition, approximately 23,000 Tamil refugees are living outside the camps and are not entitled to any assistance, according to UNHCR.

As the armed conflict has continued for more than twenty years, some children have grown up in the confines of camps and have been unable to lead normal lives. Refugees generally must ask for official permission to leave the camps and have to return to the camp at a certain time, according to BBC News, “War Weary Tamils Face India Hardship,” June 4, 2007. Some refugees have also encountered difficulties when trying to find a job, rent a house or set up bank accounts in India , according to BBC News. Once refugee children have finished school, these challenges may hamper their prospects of finding employment in the highly competitive Indian job market.

Despite the minimal assistance they receive, refugees tend not to complain for fear of inciting resentment among members of the Indian host communities who in some cases may be living in equally destitute circumstances. Some of the refugee camp infrastructure dates back to the 1980s and 1990s and requires urgent repair, especially water facilities and toilets, according to the US Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, FY Guidelines for Proposal Submissions for IO and NGO Protection and Assistance Programs for Sri Lankan Refugees in India, August 27, 2007.

Some recent reports state that refugees have been prevented from escaping to India by sea by Sri Lankan authorities. The Sri Lankan Navy reportedly fired at the ship of a refugee family that was fleeing from the Mannar mainland coast on October 18, 2007, killing a man and two children, ages 11 and 16 years, and injuring a woman and two other younger children, according to a report by the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) (UTHR(J)), a leading independent human rights organization in Sri Lanka, Slow Strangulation of Jaffna: Trashing General Larry Wijeratne’s Legacy and Enthroning Barbarism, Special Report No. 28, December 4, 2007.

Forced to Return

The GoSL has sought to resolve the displacement crisis quickly to demonstrate its ability to address the humanitarian situation and to downplay other human rights concerns. In this vein, the government started major return campaigns in September 2006 and March 2007, during which more than 100,000 IDPs went back to their homes in the Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts. Many of them were coerced to return. Security forces at times have allegedly threatened to withhold water and food rations from IDPs who refuse to cooperate with return programs. This prompted WFP to link the government’s food aid requests to conditions of voluntary return, according to Reuters, “ Sri Lanka ’s War Displaced Seek New Start - Yet Again,” June 19, 2007.

Security forces, nevertheless, have continued to threaten IDPs stating that they will no longer guarantee the security of those staying in the camps, according to HRW, Return to War: Human Rights under Siege, August 2007. Some government officials exerted considerable pressure on IDPs in the days leading up to the returns. At times, they forced IDPs in the camps onto buses that would take them back to their home communities without allowing the IDPs to wait for their children to come back from school or for others relatives to return from work outside the camps. Some displaced persons have told humanitarian workers that security forces threatened to beat or kill them if they refused to return, or said that they would consider the IDPs to be part of the LTTE if they didn’t go home.

Humanitarian organizations have also raised concerns about whether these premature returns allow returnees to live under the “safe, dignified and sustainable” conditions that international standards require. With the security situation unchanged and humanitarian access restricted in some of these areas, resettlement exposes many IDPs to the same dangerous and insecure environment from which they had hoped to escape.

The GoSL has in some cases not ensured that returnees have shelter, the ability to earn a livelihood or access to basic services. According to initial assessments by humanitarian organizations, the conditions and areas of return are unsatisfactory and there appears to be an urgent need to support the returnees with food and equipment to restart their livelihoods. As many schools in the areas of return are not open, some parents decide to leave children behind with host families so they can continue their education in IDP camps, according to Save the Children in Sri Lanka , Emergency Response Monthly Update, May 2007. Due to the lack of coordination in the resettlement process, some children in the North and East missed their “O” level exams in December 2007, delaying the completion of their education for another year, according to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) (see below: Education).

Humanitarian organizations wanting to provide returnees with livelihood support in the initial stages of return have been denied access to some areas of the Batticaloa district by the government, citing security concerns, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The absence of humanitarian assistance and human rights monitoring may inhibit the ability of returnees to thrive and creates an environment where human rights violations take place. Access constraints have also made it difficult to obtain reliable information on living conditions and protection needs of resettled people and newly displaced persons in these conflict areas.

In March 2007, UNHCR officially stated that “heavy pressure has been applied on internally displaced people” to return. It then received assurances from the GoSL that future IDP returns would be safe and voluntary. Subsequently, UNHCR noted an improvement in the situation and released a statement in May 2007 stating that the majority of returns were meeting minimum international standards. Several human rights organizations disapproved of UNHCR’s turnaround in light of ongoing violations in the return process, according to South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR).

Discriminatory Return Policies

The lack of clear policies and plans for IDPs has stirred tensions among various groups that accuse the GoSL of favoritism and discrimination. The LTTE and the government are well aware that the return of displaced populations can change the ethnic make up of certain areas. Minorities in the East fear that the GoSL is pursuing a policy of “Sinhalization” in some areas to change the ethnic demography of the Eastern Province in its favor, according to SAHR, Report on the Fact Finding Mission to the North and East to Assess the State of Displaced Persons, August 2007. They accuse the GoSL of changing administrative borders, moving Sinhalese settlers to Tamil and Muslim areas and constructing Buddhist temples on these lands to acquire territory for the Sinhalese majority. Similarly, the LTTE has allegedly encouraged Tamils to move to Muslim areas according to AI, Waiting to Go Home - The Plight of the Internally Displaced, June 29, 2006.

Moreover, human rights organizations have cast doubts on the nature of some government-declared high security zones (HSZs), which are only accessible to the military, and which are seen as discriminating against Tamils. Most IDPs in Jaffna and many in Trincomalee are unable to return to their communities because their homes are located in HSZs. Paradoxically, the government deemed one area in the Trincomalee district as a HSZ in 2007, yet opened it for economic investment, according to UTHR(J), Can the East be Won by Human Culling? Special Economic Zones. An Ideological Journey Back to 1983, August 2007. [21] More than 4,250 families, mainly Tamils, are currently stranded in transit sites as a result of their area of origin being deemed a HSZ in Trincomalee and have not been offered viable alternatives by the GoSL, according to UTHR(J).

The GoSL rarely offers alternatives for displaced people who cannot or do not wish to return and generally does not approve of local integration or resettlement to other areas of Sri Lanka except if the area of return is mined or has been designated as a HSZ. This strict policy prevents a large percentage of Muslim IDPs in Puttalam in western Sri Lanka from formally starting their new lives. Having been displaced for 17 years, some people who were displaced as children have lived in the district almost all of their lives, started families and developed social ties there. Nevertheless, current policies prevent them from acquiring resident status and property rights and participating in resettlement programs. They cannot leave the camps unless they return to their areas of origin.

The government’s strict policy also does not account for the well-founded security concerns of Muslim IDPs in Puttalam, Trincomalee and Anuradhapura about returning to areas formerly controlled by the LTTE. Muslim IDPs from Puttalam and Anuradhapura had been expelled by the LTTE in the 1990s to make space for Tamils.

Finally, some donors have earmarked funding for tsunami-displaced areas or IDPs, thereby creating disparities between the tsunami-induced and conflict-induced displaced people. While villages for tsunami-affected IDPs in the South were rebuilt for the largely Sinhalese population, Tamil and Muslim IDPs in the North and East hardly benefited from the funding as HSZs and insecurity impeded reconstruction efforts, according to AI, Waiting to Go Home, June, 29, 2006. This “funding divide” between tsunami-induced and conflict-induced IDPs prevents aid organizations from addressing such inequities. In addition, this pre-selection of beneficiaries contradicts the humanitarian goal of assisting the most vulnerable victims of armed conflict or natural disaster.


Health

Armed conflict, displacement and restrictions on the delivery of aid have increased Sri Lankans’ vulnerability to malnutrition and disease.  In addition, many health facilities in the North and East have been damaged or destroyed. However, the lack of information on the health situation in conflict-affected areas somewhat conceals the urgency of the crisis. Due to intentional obstruction of access to vulnerable areas by both the GoSL and the LTTE, it is extremely difficult to assess the health situation for children in certain areas of the country. For example, The New York Times reported on an incident in which the government allegedly blocked the release of an emergency assessment by the UN that found signs of an increase in child malnutrition in Jaffna, according to The New York Times, “ Sri Lanka ’s Scars Trace Lines of War Without End,“ June 15, 2007.

The World Food Program (WFP) warned of a humanitarian emergency in Jaffna and Batticaloa and an acute food and livelihood crisis in five other districts in the North and East, specifically in the districts of Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Mannar and parts of Vavuniya in May 2007, Executive Brief: Sri Lanka Integrated Food Security and Humanitarian Phase Classification (IPC), May 2007. WFP has called the armed conflict in Sri Lanka a “serious threat” to food security and to ongoing efforts to eradicate poverty in the North and East. Substandard hygienic conditions and a lack of clean water have exacerbated risks of infections. Only 30 percent of the people in the northern districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu have access to latrines, clean water and sanitation, according to WFP. Children suffer particularly under these conditions.

Malnutrition

Malnutrition is undeniably one of the most serious health concerns that children in Sri Lanka face. Almost one third of children under five years old in Sri Lanka are reported to be underweight and approximately 14 percent suffer from acute malnutrition or wasting, according to UNICEF’s figures between 1999 and 2005.  WFP regards armed conflict as one of the main reasons for malnutrition, with the highest levels in the North and East and some deprived areas in central Sri Lanka , Food Security Assessment, April 2007. WFP’s 2007 assessment specifically identified the need for a supplementary feeding program for malnourished children under five in conflict areas.

Malnutrition has affected girls disproportionally as families tend to discriminate against them in their food distribution, according to WFP’s Food Security Assessment of April 2007. Growth of girls under five was almost 40 percent more likely to be severely stunted than that of boys and approximately 70 percent of girls were more likely to be underweight than boys, according to the same assessment. One explanation for this discrimination may be that Sri Lankans tend to follow traditional gender roles so that men and boys receive food first, leaving only the leftovers for women and girls. This discrimination may also impact the food consumption of pregnant women and increase risks for the unborn child. Further studies are required to better understand the gender disparities related to nutrition, according to WFP.

Displacement, government restrictions and a lack of agricultural inputs or markets have deprived many IDPs and vulnerable communities in conflict-affected areas of their livelihoods. The fishing and farming sectors, the two main sectors in the North and East, have been particularly affected by the conflict. Many farmers and fishermen have lost land or tools during the war or have had to interrupt their work due to continued fighting or displacement. Moreover, the GoSL has imposed security-related restrictions on fishing and farming in the entire North and some parts of the East. It has also declared certain areas HSZs rendering them inaccessible for civilians. From August to December 2006, the average fisherman in Jaffna lost about three quarters of his usual income, according to WFP’s Sri Lankan Food Security Assessment of June 2007. The production rates in the fishing industry also dropped to an estimated 10 percent of pre-conflict levels according to IRIN, “ Sri Lanka : Malnutrition Rising in Jaffna, Aid Deliveries Struggling,” July 18, 2007. Due to import restrictions, prices of agricultural imports, fuels and other products have increased dramatically, according to WFP.

As a result of poverty and despair, some families in the conflict areas have reduced the number of meals they eat each day, borrowed money, stolen from others or pawned jewelry or household belongings. Economic despair and lack of food may also motivate some families to allow their children to join the LTTE or the TMVP/Karuna faction to alleviate the tight household budget, as both armed groups have offered financial or other benefits to families whose children joined, or directly to the child recruits, according to HRW, Complicit in Crime. State Collusion in Abductions and Child Recruitment by the Karuna Group, January 2007 (see below: Child Soldiers).

WFP reported in June 2007 that approximately 800,000 people needed lifesaving humanitarian emergency assistance in Jaffna and Batticaloa, including IDPs, as well as families which had been living below the poverty line before the conflict and who were no longer able to sustain themselves due to the conflict. In Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Trincomalee, another 900,000 people needed help with livelihood generation, according to WFP.

In spite of this dire situation, between August 2006 and April 2007 food assistance was reduced by half due to security concerns, logistical constraints and lack of humanitarian access to the North and East, according to WFP. There is an urgent need to address this food and livelihoods crisis and to assist IDPs and other vulnerable groups in the North and East.

Safe Water and Sanitation

Increasing the provision of safe water for poverty eradication is a priority policy for the GoSL and international agencies working in the country, according to WFP, Sri Lanka Food Security Assessment, June 2007. The increasing number of IDPs and other vulnerable populations has strained the already weak water and sanitation services in Sri Lanka . As of 2007, about one third of households did not have access to sanitation facilities and about one quarter did not have access to safe drinking water, according to UNICEF. Approximately 18 percent of children in Sri Lanka did not have access to any water or sanitation facilities. Conditions in IDP camps are particularly severe (see above: Refugees and IDPs).  

The discrepancies between districts regarding access to safe water are considerable.  While 95 percent of the population in Colombo has access to safe water, only 21 percent in Mannar have access to safe water, according to WFP. Other districts with poor access are Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Kegalle.

Diseases

Sri Lanka ’s nationwide health indicators are generally positive with a remarkable reduction of mortality rates of infants and under-5-year-olds between 2000 and 2005, according to the World Bank, World Development Indicators Database, April 2007. Within this five-year period, infant mortality rates dropped from 16 to 12 per 1,000 deaths and mortality rates for children under 5 years old dropped from 19 to 14 per 1,000 deaths according to the World Bank. This is due in large part to the fact that immunization coverage in Sri Lanka has reached approximately 90 percent on average in all districts, according to WFP, Sri Lanka Food Security Assessment, June 2007. As a result of high overall immunization coverage, WFP concludes that there is no high threat of outbreaks of communicable diseases even in highly populated displacement areas.

The situation in conflict-affected areas is somewhat more difficult. In these areas many people have lost their immunization cards due to displacement and have not received all doses for multi-dose immunizations. Additionally, preventive health services, including antenatal care and vaccinations were completely disrupted in non-accessible areas due to the armed conflict from September to December 2006, according to WFP, Health Lines. Newsletter of the Country Office for Sri Lanka , December 2006. Containment services throughout the country are too overloaded and are unable to cope with large scale emergency situations or outbreaks of diseases and hygiene-related illnesses, according to UNOCHA, CHAP in Sri Lanka</