GENEVA – Sri Lanka must ensure that nearly 300,000 people who fled their homes in the final throes of its civil war receive the aid they need, the United States and other governments said yesterday.
At a special session of the 47-member UN Human Rights Council, dozens of countries also called for Colombo to give its minority Tamils and Muslims a political voice to ensure lasting peace in a country where Sinhalese are an ethnic majority.
Sri Lanka’s minister of disaster management and rights Mahinda Samarasinghe told the Geneva forum his government recognised the need to help those displaced in its drive to crush Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists. He also thanked China and India for their assistance.
He dismissed concerns raised by the Red Cross and other aid groups which have been kept out of camps like Manik Farm, which holds about 210,000 people uprooted by the war.
On Tuesday, Mr Samarasinghe had said his government was sick and tired of foreign pressure. – (Reuters)