End game?

Sri Lanka’s 25 year-old civil war between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tiger rebels (LTTE) has reached a peak. Government troops have taken much of the territory once under the control of the rebel forces.

A small pocket of land in the north called Vanni remains under rebel control and is under government attack.

A human tragedy

The continuation of fighting has led to a major humanitarian crisis in Vanni. The total number of people forced out of their homes is 250,000.

The fate of several thousands of civilians hangs in the balance. The LTTE has stopped civilians leaving the area under its control. The people trapped in the war zone come under daily bombardment, have little or no access to food or water, the wounded receive only the most basic medical help, and many are traumatized.

As the LTTE numbers dwindle, children and adults have been forcibly recruited into fighting, often put into the frontline with only a week’s training.

Basic needs

• Medicines, surgeons, doctors, and nurses
• Food
• Drinkable water
• Physical protection from the LTTE recruitment and from the heavy shellings
• Psychosocial intervention
• Sheltering

The Bishop of Jaffna made an urgent appeal to the President and the LTTE to desist from firing from and at the safe zones where people had sought refuge. But these appeals have fallen upon deaf ears.

Stories

• Caritas urges all sides in Sri Lanka's civil war to end the conflict
  

• Sri Lankan religious leaders call for end to fighting

• Innocent civilians are dying in Sri Lanka due to indiscriminate bombing

• Aid agencies must also be allowed access to the affected population

Peace-building

• Working across the divide

• After the tsunami

Caritas Sri Lanka

• Contact information of Caritas Sri Lanka

• 40th years of building peace