Aid agencies in the Batticaloa region of eastern Sri Lanka have warned of a major humanitarian emergency. Severe shortage of food supplies loom large over the numerous refugee camps.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) supplies food to the 60,000 displaced Tamils already living in the refugee camps here. The aid agencies have said that about 95,000 people have been displaced in Batticaloa in the past week alone.
This new influx of refugees from Batticaloa has added a heavy burden to the food supply programme. Providing shelter to the displaced is also a difficult task.
About 300,000 refugees living in camps in Sri Lanka are fed by WFP.
WFP spokesman Simon Pluess said ‘The problem is that the stocks are dwindling and we will run out of food supplies by the end of April.’ He also added that shortage of funds has already forced the WFP to suspend several aid programmes.
The hurdles aid workers have to face to reach places where their services are required also pose serious problems. They are literally denied entry to the crisis areas in many places by both the government soldiers and the Tamil Tiger fighters. The UN has called on the government and Tamil Tigers to allow ‘unimpeded access‘ to the displaced people.
The cramped and overflowing refugee camps are badly affected by lack of sanitation and scarcity of food. The aid agencies in the region have sounded a warning about a major humanitarian crisis, if supplies are not immediately rushed to the area.
