Protest fast

REFUGEES in Pesalai camp on Mannar Island began a protest fast on 5 March demanding to be sent to Jaffna. Around 4,200 people in Pesalai and Erukkalampiddi camps and another 2,000 living with friends or relatives await transport. The refugees ended the fast after Army officers assured that President Chandrika would be notified. Some 10,000 Jaffna residents are stuck in Mannar, Vavuniya and Trincomalee. Since March last year, 85,500 people have returned to the peninsula by ships from Mannar and Trincomalee.

The refugee chaos in Mannar continues. The Army currently issues 500 permits a day to enter Mannar at Uyilankulam where thousands of people queue up. Over 160 people without the relevant documents were turned back to the Vanni in March. Further north in LTTE-held Pallamadu, hundreds of civilians continue to live in the open without adequate food or drinking water.

A new Army directive in March says that the Vavuniya route is closed and travel to southern areas from Mannar will only be thorough Cheddikulam and Medawachchiya. A Tiger was killed and two soldiers were wounded in a clash at Cheddikulam on 8 March.

Public services in Mannar are at breaking point. Mannar hospital which has facilities to treat 19,000 patients a month is now expected to treat many thousands more.

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