Report From Vavuniya
Just got back from Vavuniya, on an effectively private visit. Vavuniya is the biggest town in the Sri Lankan Wanni. Right now it’s even bigger because there are like 300,000 IDPs there, fleeing the war. Passing through, you can see that every hospital, school and ground has been repurposed for IDP use. The dire needs are in Menik Farm (Zone 4 specifically), where access is limited, but Vavuniya town is more accessible. My overall impression after talking to people there is that the humanitarian needs are being addressed, but the human ones are not. Specifically, families are separated and they need some means of finding their loved ones.
I visited the ward for infectious diseases, which is a repurposed maternal ward. It is now the home for over a thousand people, both the sick and their families. There are a lot of kids with chicken pox, Hepatitis A , scabies and other contagious diseases. These diseases spread with poor water and sanitation conditions. One of the guys I talked to said they needed more clean water. I saw the tanks where people were bathing and checked out one of about eight Red Cross latrines. They were usable enough.
The doctors mentioned a need for fluids to flush peoples systems, juice, milk, king coconut. A few people literally said they had the clothes on their back. Looking around, this is stuff that could be procured quite easily in Vavuniya town.
However, the issues people seem concerned about are not the medical or the physical. In most camps it seems those needs are being met. Obviously it’s ongoing and they need better. The main concern, though, seems to be information. Families are separated and they’re worried sick. One woman said her sons had been taken by the police and she hadn’t heard. Another said her sister and kids, etc. Everyone is separated from someone, often in their nuclear family.
What they want is basically a list. Just a list of names would do. To know who is in what camp. Another issue is that out of like ten people I talked to, one had a national ID. So these people need the proper paperwork as well. I try to avoid proposing stuff I can’t do much about, but I hope someone takes a decision to allow this level of information to the IDPs.
There is an ongoing need to screen IDPs, I even hear rumors that Pottu Amman is out and perhaps in the camps. There are certainly combatants and sympathizers. However, I think we could all agree that the need for a mother or father to find their child, a wife to find a husband is important. If you’ve ever lost someone, even for a moment, I think you’d understand. Now that the physical needs are met, this seems to be the main concern among the few IDPs I’ve met.
Indi, Sahana handled some disaster management data collection work during the Tsunami.
They set up within days and was very successful.
I think Dr. Sanjiv Weerawarna maintained the group.
I was there for some Sahana meetings. It wasn’t set up in days at all.
They’ve had opportunities during this disaster but the setup they’ve given in in months, not days.
All they really need is a printed list.
[...] recently returned from Vavuniya, the biggest town in the Wanni district of Sri Lanka and temporary refuge to [...]
Thanks for the report.
Other than Thamilini, and rumors of Pottu Amman, have they caught any actual Tigers trying to pass themselves off as IDPs? I mean people who had command and administrative responsibilities, not foot soldiers or children. Does the GOSL honestly think that if a few escape, they will be willing and able to foment trouble? That seems a rather flimsy pretext to pose as legitimate obstacle to a truly expedited resettlement.
Also, is there any popular movement to throw the TMVP into Tiger rehabilitation camps as well?
[...] è tornato recentemente[in] da Vavuniya [it], la maggiore città del distretto di Vanni nello Sri Lanka, che offre [...]
transcurrents
So is the Hon. CJ Sarath Nanda Silva a filthy liar or is the quote taken out of context (or is the report itself bogus?)
He’s probably right. I don’t see the contradiction between me reporting what I saw and him what he saw.
I certainly agree that the law doesn’t apply to IDPs. The humanitarian stuff (food, water, latrines) is being addressed, that gets better every week. There is, however, little progress on extending legal rights and protections to these Sri Lankans.
he said, however out of context, that “we are doing a great wrong to these people.”
I don’t see how that contradicts your reporting but it seems a bit more serious than, “humanitarian needs are met…but human needs are not.”
Wouldn’t they jail a Tamil doctor for saying the same thing to the BBC?
Nayagan you are aware that there are around 600,000 displaced in Sri Lanka, right? There are people who haven’t been resettled since the 90s which includes Tsunami survivors still living in refugee camps. This is the norm in a poor developing nation. It has very little to do with the LTTE, Naygan.
In Sri Lanka there are injustices suffered by all not just the few who get the attention.
Thanks for the post Indi.
The above should read: Nayagan you are aware that there are around 600,000 displaced in Sri Lanka, right? There are people who haven’t been resettled since the 90s the 600,000 also includes Tsunami survivors still living in refugee camps.