Food distributions for 1,000 families in Batticaloa are underway as part of CRS' commitment of $100,000 to emergency relief efforts to help hundreds of thousands of people who have fled their homes due to the escalation of violence in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.
The food distribution, taking place in the Uriyangkattu camp in Vaharai for approximately 1,000 families (up to 5,000 people) is expected to last for one week. Since April, CRS partners, Jesuit Relief Services and Caritas Sri Lanka, have provided more than 23,000 displaced people with vital food, shelter, sanitation, clothing, psychosocial and educational support in the Batticaloa and Jaffna districts.
"The humanitarian situation is dire," said Anne Bousquet, CRS Sri Lanka country representative. "People are finding shelter wherever they can-in churches, abandoned school buildings, under the shades of trees. In one area, the schools that had sheltered people after the tsunami are now filled with families displaced from the recent violence. Though the camp still has latrines and water tanks from the tsunami relief efforts, I don't think many of us expected to return to this site so soon."
CRS' commitment of $100,000 will support its partners' emergency relief efforts in the dioceses of Trincomalee/Batticaloa, Mannar and Jaffna through September, when further assessments will be made based on the needs of communities at the time.
Given its history of work in the area since 1983, CRS' partner Jesuit Refugee Service was one of only three humanitarian agencies approved by the Sri Lankan government last week to access and provide relief in government restricted areas within the Batticaloa district. It is an area where access to people in need, and movement of relief supplies, has been severely limited.
With the support of CRS, JRS is also providing dry rations to the affected populations in the Jaffna peninsula and the Kilinochchi district. "Supplies in the peninsula are running very low and communication is next to impossible," said Bousquet.
Among CRS' concerns is the complete disruption of education for children in the area due to people seeking shelter in schools and the lack of teachers and educational supplies available. CRS is focusing part of its assistance on means to establish a sense of normalcy through the set up of temporary schools in the camps, and the presence of counsellors to help the children cope with trauma
It is estimated that the recent escalation of violence in the region has forced more than 200,000 people from their homes since April alone; exact figures are unavailable due to the constant movement of people and limited access in the government restricted areas. Since the beginning of April, it has been reported that 1,500 people, mostly civilians, have died.
Sri Lanka suffered a vicious civil war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from 1983 until the Cease-fire Agreement of February 2002. More than 60,000 people were killed in the conflict and 350,000 are still displaced.