by Melani Manel Perera

The numbers are provided by the International Red Cross who say that the situation is tense in the area where clashes between rebels and government forces have intensified. In Wankali Tiger leaflets warn the population to abandon their homes by November 27th or be moved by force.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – At least 22,000 people in northern Sri Lanka have been forced to leave their homes since the beginning of the month of September due to fighting between the government troops and Tamil Tiger Rebels. The data has been published by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), whose offices in Vavuniya and Mannar continue to organise aid to those families fleeing the violence. ICRC claimed that the situation in Omanthai which is the only viable entry point connecting Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) with the rest of the country.

According to local authorities and Catholic Church information, there are about 11,200 displaced people in the Mannar district at present. Majority of them are staying with host families and the remaining are in 13 different sites set up by aid agencies. The same situation for another 10,000 displaced people in Manthai west Mannar.

Fighting has recently been restricted to the uninhabited area of Muhamalai, south of the Jaffna peninsula and the area of Madhu. But during past few days LTTE rebels have distributed leaflets carrying threatening orders to the civilians living in the area Wankalai, in Mannar district to vacate their homes immediately.   The text written in Tamil and signed by the LTTE says that the civilians “must leave their homes before 27 November” or they will have to “face sever repercussions”.

• sri
• lanka
• north
• jaffna
• violence
• tamil
• tigers
• government
• families
• internally
• displaced
• people