Jeevan Thiyagaraja, Executive Director, Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies (CHA), Jeevan Thiyagaraja said the humanitarian issues should be looked at separately and should not depend on the peace talks. In an interview with The Morning Leader he said the outcome of the peace talks in Geneva was a setback. He however stated that the problems faced by the people in the peninsula should be addressed by the public and that the CHA was taking the necessary steps to ensure humanitarian aid reached the affected people in the north and east
By Arthur Wamanan
Q: The LTTE went to the peace talks stressing on the humanitarian issues and the opening of the A9 road, while the government was concentrating on the core issues.
Both the parties could not come to any sort of an agreement. How do you think the humanitarian efforts would continue in the north and east in the present context?
A: The humanitarian issues should be looked at separately from the success or failure of the peace talks. Because those are issues that are ongoing at the moment and it will have to be dealt with whether the peace talks succeed or fail. The humanitarian work has to continue whether or not the talks are successful. And the pressure to continue with the efforts will remain as it was before the peace talks. There are people such as the international community as well as the Co-Chairs who feel that access to the people who are vulnerable is a must. It is not a subject of negotiations. We cannot have groups of people living on rations while others are well off.
Q: However, do you think that the outcome of the talks and the possibility of the A9 road remaining closed would affect the humanitarian efforts?
A: The outcome of the talks is definitely a setback. But, the humanitarian efforts cannot be a sole responsibility of the peace process. It cannot be confined to and held hostage by the peace talks.
Q: Do you think that the outcome of the talks would make the work of the humanitarian agencies in the north and east tough?
A: It is already tough. It is in fact next to impossible. In terms of humanitarian intervention, it is extremely negligible in most of the northern and eastern districts. The biggest supplier of humanitarian items is the Commissioner General of Essential Services but even those supplies are found to be insufficient. The Sri Lanka Airforce airlifted a consignment of essential items very recently. It is only in extreme situations that we find airlifting of essential items happening.
So these factors show that there is a very serious situation.
Q: What are the main areas where humanitarian efforts are being carried out at the moment? Do you feel the people who are already receiving humanitarian assistance are getting sufficient help?
A: People in parts of Jaffna and Wanni are getting humanitarian aid. In Wanni, the people in Kilinochchi were given two weeks of rations from a permissible eight. This was many days ago. The situation might have changed now. As far as Jaffna is concerned, the Commissioner General wanted to maintain a one-month buffer, but he could not achieve it possibly due to practical reasons.
Q: Has there been any complaints made to the CHA on the non-uniformity of distribution of essential items, especially from the north?
A: Yes definitely. Prolonged blockades such as this has made the standard of living of a lot of people come down and has also affected the distribution process. Some of the people are held captive in a difficult environment, which cannot be reached. We have received a request for a very large consignment of psychiatric medicines to the people and we have readily accepted.
Q: Has the CHA taken any steps regarding these drawbacks in humanitarian issues?
A: Yes. We have informed the office of the President, we have written to the Ministry of Human Rights and to the Ministry of Defence. We have asked the Co-Chairs and the development community whether they are willing to join us on this issue. And we will publish in the papers very soon the places where people are stranded, with maps. We are going to show that these are the people who are vulnerable and these issues have to be addressed.
Q: Have the authorities you have written to taken any steps? How do the humanitarian organisations feel about the present situation?
A: The Ministry of Human Rights is taking steps to ease the situation. The ICRC remains worried regarding access to some areas. The UN has been allowed limited access. All these humanitarian efforts done by the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) will not fully address the needs of the people. It will become a hundred percent if the access is a hundred percent. We on our part are proposing a humanitarian corridor for humanitarian purposes. But this has not been officially stated to the government or to the LTTE yet. But this is something we internally want to articulate.
Q: There have been complaints and reports of abductions and killings in the north and east. There have also been reports of Tamil businessmen abducted in Colombo. What is the CHA doing on this issue and other human rights violations?
A: We have also gathered our own facts on this issue. We are interviewing the Human Rights Commission (HRC) on this. We have also contacted the government appointed commission of inquiry, which is looking into the abductions up to October 16. We are looking into the public complaints made to the HRC and checking whether these complaints are being conveyed to the commission appointed by the government. We are also concerned about the situation in Colombo. I have reports that the President and the Ministers are very much concerned of the problems faced by Tamils not only in the north and east but also in Colombo. Therefore, we should work together collectively in order to find a solution to these issues rather than waiting.
ML, 2.11.2006