There was fighting around the church and it is unclear who was responsible for the shell attack. The Tigers and the Army blame each other. The military say the church was targeted because there were 300 Sri Lankan soldiers at the time in the church premises. The LTTE in turn have accused the Army of using the civilians in Madhu as a human shield.
The 17th Century Madhu Church, the most-sacred Catholic shrine in the island, has been a sanctuary for hundreds of years and is famous for miracles and healing powers. In recent times, it has become a safe haven for refugees fleeing violence in the region. Pope John Paul expressed sadness and solidarity with the victims of the attack.
The 300 soldiers who were in the church premises left the area the next day following orders from President Chandrika Kumaratunge. Mannar Catholic Bishop Rayappu Joseph has been repeatedly calling on the Army and the LTTE to treat the church area as a demilitarized zone. There were around 3,000 refugees in the church at the time of the shell attack. But as fighting continued in the area, the refugee population swelled to 10,000 by end of November.
More than 8,000 Sinhalese people fled from Veli Oya area in Mullaitivu District in early December, as the LTTE overran military camps established to provide them protection. These refugees are currently accommodated in schools at Padaviya in Anuradhapura District.
There was panic in Vavuniya when the Tigers ordered the 60,000 population in the town on 10 November to go to designated areas. Many fled fearing that the LTTE were poised to launch an assault on Vavuniya town and took refuge in temples and schools. The attempts by security forces to persuade the people to remain in the town failed. Thousands of people were stranded on roadside and under trees, between Poovarasankulam on the Vavuniya-Mannar road and Cheddikulam on Medawachchiya-Mannar road.
The military was accused of attempting to use civilians as human shields when refugees in Vavuniya camps were denied permission to leave. Some 10,000 refugees in the Poonthottam camp pleaded with the senior state officer, the Government Agent, to move them to a safer area. Their National Identity Cards (NIC), however, were with the police. Movement outside camps without NICs and travel permits is dangerous.
As international agencies ICRC and UNHCR distributed non-food items such as tents, Vavuniya GA Ganesh wrote to the Essential Services Commissioner (ESC) in mid-November, requesting permission to issue dry rations to the newly displaced people. Reports say that the ESC was prepared to supply them food, but no permission was forthcoming from the Defence Ministry. The government’s position appeared to be that the people had left Vavuniya town voluntarily and therefore did not fall within the category of internally displaced persons.
In late November, Bishop Joseph appealed to President Chandrika to instruct the Defence Ministry to grant permission. The President appointed a committee headed by North-East Governor Maj. Gen. Asoka Jayawardena to look into the problems of the internally displaced people in Mannar and Vavuniya. The committee met on 25 November in Anuradhapura and decided to provide two weeks’ dry rations.
But eight days earlier, the LTTE, through its clandestine radio Puliyin Kural (Voice of the Tiger) requested the people to return, assuring that Vavuniya would not be attacked. People began returning, but at the end of November many remained away from Vavuniya. Observers believe that the Tigers had no intention of attacking when they ordered the people to vacate Vavuniya town.
Renewed fighting has cut off the supply route to the Vanni through Mankulam, opened on 9 August after disruption in food supply for nearly six weeks. No food has reached the area since 2 November. There are some 375,000 people in the LTTE-held areas of the Vanni, 80% of whom are internally displaced.
As food stocks in the Vanni became depleted, Mullaitivu GA S Sundaram and Kilinochchi GA T Iyathurai appealed to the ESC and the Vavuniya military highcommand for fresh food stocks. In late November, the ESC announced that it was unable to send food but had paid Rs 13 million ($183,000) to the Mullaitivu GA and Rs 7.8 million ($109,000) to the Kilinochchi GA to purchase food locally. But without new stocks from outside, purchase in the Vanni proved difficult.
French medical agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said that the actions of the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE have placed civilians at risk and restrictions on access of the population to humanitarian assistance has sharply reduced the level of assistance provided to civilians in the north. MSF declared that civilians will continue to suffer from lack of medical care, food and shelter materials unless restrictions cease and called on the government and the LTTE to agree on humanitarian corridors and safe access areas.