UNITED NATIONS: United Nations on Thursday said that the conditions were "far from satisfactory" in camps for displaced Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka
and its top priority is to get an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped in the war zone to safety.
Addressing a press conference here, Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said that food, water and other basic supplies from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations were en route to help approximately 175,000 civilians who had fled the fighting between government forces and Tamil Tigers since January.
While many had sought refuge in the Manik Farm camp for internally displaced persons and in transit centres and schools in and around Vavuniya, another 50,000 people were said to be trapped in the combat zone, he said.
"Although the conditions are very far from satisfactory in that camp and in those transit centres, I think with huge efforts we're beginning to get a grip on that and the basics will be there to allow people to at least survive," he said.
Holmes, who was recently in Sri Lanka, said that in the past four days the UN had set up 4,500 family-sized tents for internally displaced persons in northern Sri Lanka as part of efforts to ramp up humanitarian aid to thousands of civilians uprooted by intense fighting.
Source:TOI
and its top priority is to get an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped in the war zone to safety.
Addressing a press conference here, Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said that food, water and other basic supplies from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations were en route to help approximately 175,000 civilians who had fled the fighting between government forces and Tamil Tigers since January.
While many had sought refuge in the Manik Farm camp for internally displaced persons and in transit centres and schools in and around Vavuniya, another 50,000 people were said to be trapped in the combat zone, he said.
"Although the conditions are very far from satisfactory in that camp and in those transit centres, I think with huge efforts we're beginning to get a grip on that and the basics will be there to allow people to at least survive," he said.
Holmes, who was recently in Sri Lanka, said that in the past four days the UN had set up 4,500 family-sized tents for internally displaced persons in northern Sri Lanka as part of efforts to ramp up humanitarian aid to thousands of civilians uprooted by intense fighting.
Source:TOI
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