The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has confirmed that some 160,000 people have been displaced by fighting into the Government controlled areas, of which more than 140,000 are being accommodated in 32 sites in Vavuniya, another 11,000 in Jaffna and some 5,000 in Trincomalee.

“UNHCR staff on the ground report that the present situation in the north is critical,” the agency’s spokesperson, William Spindler, told reporters in Geneva. “The conditions at the sites have reached breaking point, placing severe strains on the humanitarian services available.”

The agency says that people without shelter are staying out in the open in the blazing sun and sweltering heat. It has also received “persistent” reports of physical assaults on men and women fleeing into Government-controlled areas.

“We are reminding the Government of its responsibilities towards the civilian population and to ensure the protection of its own citizens,” Mr. Spindler stated.

UNHCR is calling on the Government to provide more resources to respond to the emergency and immediately make available all public buildings and viable land for the accommodation of the large number of civilians in desperate need of assistance.