Madam, – Randeep Ramesh reports that the Sri Lankan government is threatening to expel media and aid agencies if their reporting is deemed sympathetic to anti-government groups (The Irish Times, February 2nd).
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a humanitarian aid agency providing independent and neutral medical relief in Sri Lanka since 2007, has been blocked from the Vanni region and cannot gain access to the estimated 250,000 civilians trapped there by heavy fighting. Hundreds have been reported wounded or killed in the past few days while desperately short-staffed hospitals are now also running out of drugs.
MSF has an emergency medical team and supplies ready to support the hospitals there but cannot mobilise as the government forced it and all other NGOs out of the area last September. Despite the Sri Lanka Ministry of Health staff in Vanni directly appealing to MSF for help, this ban still stands.
As Mr Ramesh writes, the conflict in Sri Lanka is among the world’s most under-reported stories. Sri Lanka has been in the grips of this fighting on and off for nearly 25 years but the conflict, particularly its toll on civilians, has attracted minimal attention.
In recent weeks, around 2,000 people have managed to escape to the relative safety of Vavuniya, where an MSF medical team is supporting the local hospital and treating the wounded who have escaped the fighting.
It is vital that the ban on NGOs is lifted immediately and that all parties to the conflict respect the right of civilians to seek safety and to receive medical treatment. – Yours, etc,