Colombo: International donors have expressed "frustration" over conditions in Sri Lanka’s camps housing the displaced Tamils civilians and are less likely to provide funding if they continue to restrict freedom of movement of the community, a top UN official has said.
Neil Buhne, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sri Lanka, was quoted as saying by a UN supported agency that there was "frustration over the closed nature of the camps".
Buhne told this to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), which acts as a news agency focusing on humanitarian issues.
"Among the donors we talked to, there is a hesitation in terms of their assistance to camps over the next three or four months if there’s not significant progress on people returning, or larger numbers of people being allowed to leave," Buhne was quoted as saying by IRIN, which is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
"Donor fatigue is really in respect to continuing these closed camps...Donors have not said no, but they have indicated their concerns to us," he underlined.
Nearly 300,000 people fled the fighting in the country’s northeast in the final months of the 26-year civil war between the government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May.
Since the Lankan government crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels in May, the displaced ethnic Tamils have been confined to overcrowded, military-run camps, where their movements are restricted and sanitation is poor.
According to IRIN, more than 245,000 people are still in temporary camps in the north, according to the latest humanitarian update from the UN on October 9.
"Only 13,336 people have been released from temporary camps to host families and another 13,502 have returned to their places of origin in the country’s north and east (as on that date)," it said.
On Thursday, the Sri Lankan government moved 41,685 Tamil IDPS to Vavuniya, Mullaittivu, Mannar and Kilinochchi in the North for resettlement.
"The (Sri Lankan) government has steadfastly said it is committed to resettling the IDPs, but is under growing pressure from the international community over the rate and manner that people are being released," IRIN said.
According to the UN-supported body, donors want "to see a number of benchmarks achieved by the government in the treatment of IDPs and camp conditions".
"These include freedom of movement for the IDPs, unhindered access for aid agencies to the camps, transparency in the government’s resettlement process and plans, and the assurance of a voluntary and safe return for the IDPs," the IRIN reported.
Bureau Report
