Refugees have fled to north-eastern Vadamaratchy or western Valikamam areas and have taken refuge in temples, schools or empty houses. Many have no access to government relief. The extension of a 48-hour curfew on 10 May and a 24-hour curfew on 18 May to the entire peninsula made refugee flight more difficult. UNHCR continues to intervene with the Sri Lankan military to ensure safe passage for the refugees. Many are still trapped in the combat zone and are undergoing immense difficulties without food or medical care facilities.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in late May that continuous Army shelling prevented the evacuation of refugees from Chavakachcheri, 11 miles east of Jaffna town, to points where UNHCR officials were waiting. UNHCR says that it conveyed to the government, a temporary truce offer by the Tigers to facilitate evacuation of refugees from southern Thenmaratchy, but received no reply. The government denied receiving any communication. But a 12-hour truce on 27 May was observed by both sides and more than 8,700 people moved out of the combat zone.
The Essential Services Commissioner (ESC) Lt. Gen. Sarath Munasinghe says 16,700 displaced people have registered in 138 relief centres in the Jaffna peninsula. The Jaffna Government Agent has made arrangements to provide them cooked meals for three days and dry rations thereafter. Aid agencies say some 150,000 are displaced including 70% of the population of Jaffna city.
Many refugees say that they have left their documents, such as house-holders lists and identity cards, at their homes. Government officers are delaying or refusing to register their names at relief centres without these documents. According to UNHCR, refugees are crammed in camps with little in the way of water and sanitation facilities and some children are suffering from malaria, chicken-pox and diarrhoea.
International agencies confirm that a three-month food stock is available in Jaffna, but warn of a humanitarian crisis if the fighting continues. The ESC says that cargo ship Kumana left Colombo on 29 May for Jaffna with 3,200 tonnes of food. But distribution of food within Jaffna has become a major problem.
Agencies in Jaffna town are setting-up offices in other areas. UNHCR has established an office in Pandatharippu, eight miles north-west, to assist refugees in Valikamam. The office of the Human Rights Commission has been shifted to Sithankerni. The Jaffna prison is closed and reports say that 80 prisoners and 38 detainees under the Prevention of Terrorism Act will be sent to the south.
Civilian casualties are mounting as fighting continues. International agencies say people fleeing combat areas were seen carrying the injured. According to reports, Tiger-held Chavakachcheri, Kaithady, Madduvil and Sarasalai in Thenmaratchy have been subjected to massive Airforce bombardment and artillery shelling.
At least 50 civilians are reported killed and some 200 wounded. But Mannar Bishop Rayappu Joseph puts the civilian casualties in Madduvil alone at 500. In mid-May, Amnesty International appealed to the LTTE and the armed forces to make every effort to ensure the security of half a million people in the contested area.
Many people trying to flee the war zone have also been killed. In a letter to foreign missions in Colombo, Bishop Joseph alleges that the attitude of the armed forces is that “It is better to kill the people than allow them to go into LTTE-controlled areas”. Shells fired at Columbuthurai in the western part of Jaffna town on 15 May killed five people and wounded six others.
French medical agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says that military targets in the vicinity of health facilities endanger patients and may prevent access of the population to medical care. A Sri Lankan Army base lies within 15 metres of Jaffna general hospital. Many military installations are near refugee camps, schools and health facilities. The Jaffna hospital continues to suffer from shortage of medicines and medical staff.
Some of the injured are being brought by boats across the Jaffna lagoon to Vanni hospitals. In late May, MSF assisted in transporting 25 wounded civilians from Kilinochchi and Mallavi hospitals to the Vavuniya hospital. Observers say many people in Thenmaratchy have refused to accede to a request by the LTTE to move to the Vanni. In 1995 and 1996 some 400,000 Jaffna people went into the Vanni following an LTTE order.
In the Vanni, the security forces have severely restricted medical supplies since March this year. MSF said in mid-May that in the earlier weeks, more than 40 patients were transferred or discharged without adequate surgical treatment and over 3,700 out-patients were turned away without medication. There is a critical shortage of medical supplies, especially emergency surgical items, dressing material and antibiotics.