The Australasian Federation of Tamil Associations (AFTA), the umbrella body of the peak Tamil Associations in Australia and New Zealand calls on the UN and the rest of the International Community, to demand the immediate release of the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) being held against their will in Menik Farm in the north of the country.
A media release by AFTA said: Menik Farm camp for the IDPs is the largest such camp in the world and described by some media as a “concentration camp” and many others as “internment camps” that holds more than 200,000 Tamil people. From day one this camp was overcrowded, without adequate toilet facilities and other sanitary facilities, without adequate water to bathe and the inmates were not allowed to either move freely from one section to another inside the camp and not at all to the outside of the camp. This alone is in violation of International Laws and norms.
Now, the monsoon season has just started and the camp is already flooded, causing havoc to people inside the camp. Pictures in possession of AFTA reveal that all the temporary shelters are one foot deep under water, and the water is flowing out of toilet pits. Once the monsoon rains really set in after September, flooding and strong winds could potentially damage the current temporary shelters resulting in a major humanitarian catastrophe.
Additionally the flooding will increase the risk of disease and will severely restrict vehicular access to offer emergency assistance. Flooding will also deny the people to cook their meals. This could lead to serious food shortages and malnutrition among an already vulnerable population. Further it will impact upon sanitary conditions thus contaminating clean water supply increasing the risk of epidemics of life-threatening water-borne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea. Many sanitation and water purification facilities will have to be disconnected as a health and safety measure, threatening the viability of holding the detained IDPs in this huge camp.
AFTA increasingly believes that not only from the view point that holding these people against their will violates international law but also from a logistical perspective, the present high concentration of people in such a vulnerable site as Menik Farm is unworkable, unsustainable and beyond the collective capacity of Humanitarian Agencies, the UN and the Government to manage in a way that would guarantee the safety, well-being and security of the IDP population.
AFTA welcomes the statement made on Wednesday by the US Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Eric P. Schwartz that “the continued confinement against – involuntary confinement is especially a source of concern given the recent rains and given the coming of the monsoon season, and it makes it all the more important that release from confinement be an issue that friends of Sri Lanka continue to raise”. AFTA is also encouraged by his announcement that he would be returning to Sri Lanka in the near future to continue their engagement with the government and others in Sri Lanka on these issues.
AFTA believes that the Sri Lankan Government and the UN should consider alternative response strategies to ensure the safety, well-being and security of the IDPs. Sri Lanka’s 180 days program to resettle these IDPs should be accelerated. Anyone who has relatives to shelter them during monsoon (we believe as many as 50% have relatives to stay with for a short period) should be released immediately.
If Sri Lanka fails to comply with international law and norms and accelerate the release of these detained IDPs who are its own citizens, the international community should intervene diplomatically and if necessary physically in Sri Lanka by invoking the principle of R2P and prevent loss of thousands of Tamil lives as happened in May 2009 in the so called no-fire zone.
AFTA appeals to the Australian and New Zealand Governments to follow the steps of the US Government and send special envoys as a matter of urgency to visit these camps and engage with the government and the parliamentarians from Tamil National Alliance, to map out a strategy to prevent another humanitarian catastrophe.
AFTA would like to request the international media to highlight the plight of these IDPs, who are held against their will in these internment camps and increase awareness amongst the general public who could pressure their governments to intervene. AFTA will be only too willing to help any media with pictures and other details available.
