26 January 2009
Over the last 24 hours over 300 civilians who were awaiting relief and medical assistance within the “Safety Zone” declared by the Government of Sri Lanka have been killed and several thousand injured in Udaiyaarkaddu, Suthanthirapuram, and Vallipuram in the Mullaitivu District by Sri Lanka Army multi-barrel artillery and mortar shelling by the Sri Lanka armed forces.
TRO Vanni is making an URGENT APPEAL to the people of Tamil Nadu, the Government of India, the Royal Norwegian Government, the international community, international humanitarian organizations and the United Nations for the immediate delivery of medical supplies and medical teams to the hospitals in the Vanni.
These medical supplies must arrive within the next 24 hours if the lives of these injured are to be saved. If these supplies do not arrive immediately there will be a nitarian catastrophe of enormous proportions and hundreds more will die.
The heavy shelling and bombing has caused terror in the civilian population and many have run into the jungles seeking refuge. Many of these people are injured and are in dire need of assistance.
Medical personnel and volunteers are unable to access these areas due to continuous shelling. All of the hospitals in the Vanni, Kilinochchi Hospital and Mullaitivu Hospital, have been displaced and are functioning in schools or other public buildings. These displaced hospitals have been stretched to their limit due to the continuous bombing and shelling of the Vanni over the past few months.
The injured have no access to medical supplies and there are not enough doctors and other medical staff available to treat the population.
The continuing indiscriminate aerial bombardment and shelling by the Sri Lanka armed forces has caused immense destruction and suffering, which has been exacerbated by the Government of Sri Lanka’s draconian embargoes on supplies of food, medicine, fuel, tents, tarpaulins, and other humanitarian relief items to the people. The attacks and the embargoes comprise a callous effort to drive the population of the Vanni, on pain of death and injury, into military-controlled areas.
TRO Vanni appeals to the people of Tamil Nadu, the Government of India, the international community and international humanitarian organizations for the immediate delivery of medical supplies by land, sea or air within the next 24 hours.
Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation
Head Office: 254 Jaffna Road, Kilinochchi, Sri Lanka Ph/Fax: +94 (0) 21 228 3947
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