SRI LANKA: ICRC REQUESTS EMERGENCY FUNDING, TIGERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L COLOMBO 001414

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/29/2016
TAGS: PREL PTER PHUM PREF MOPS CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: ICRC REQUESTS EMERGENCY FUNDING, TIGERS
REFUSE PERMISSION TO ADDITIONAL AID SHIPS

REF: A. COLOMBO 1399

B. COLOMBO 1352

Classified By: CDA James R. Moore for reasons 1.4(b,d).


1. (C) Summary: International Committee for the Red Cross
(ICRC) Director General for Asia and the Pacific Reto Meister
and Sri Lanka Head of Delegation Toon Vandenhove briefed
Charge' on August 28 on current ICRC activities in Sri Lanka.
Meister contended that the unofficial collapse of the Sri
Lankan ceasefire had exhausted local ICRC resources and that
ICRC headquarters in Geneva had been significantly stretched
by the unexpected war in Lebanon, as well as sustained
operations in Afghanistan and Sudan, and therefore an
additional $13 million would be requested for Sri Lanka for
CY2006 (ref A). Vandenhove updated Charge' on the
humanitarian situation and the ICRC's interactions with the
Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) and the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) since the significant escalation in
military engagement between the two sides began in mid-July.
See action request paragraph 5. End Summary.


2. (C) Meister and Vandenhove traveled to Kilinochchi, in the
LTTE-controlled Vanni on August 26 to meet with Tiger
political wing leader S. Tamilselvan. An obstacle had
emerged, they said, to the ICRC's ability to provide a
sustained supply and passenger chain to Jaffna from Colombo
to support several hundred thousand conflict-affected
civilians on the Jaffna peninsula, and at least 350 more
foreign nationals who remain stranded (ref B). Initially
Tamilselvan told the ICRC that the LTTE's "preferred" route
for humanitarian convoys would be by the A9 highway through
the Vanni. Later, said Vandenhove, "Tamilselvan let us know
that the first ships had been exceptional" and made it clear
the LTTE would not approve additional ships. In fact, he
added, the LTTE had not yet granted clearance for the
ICRC-flagged cargo which brought food and other aid to Jaffna
on August 25 to return. Vandenhove noted that given the
Jaffna peninsula's 400K-plus population, the initial delivery
of 1500 tons of food would last only a few days.


3. (C) Toon lamented that "humanitarian aid has been
politicized. We are being used by both sides. Both sides
want to continue to fight tit for tat." He reiterated that
the ICRC works on the basis of transparency and must have a
green light from both parties in the conflict to proceed with
aid work. While the GSL has asked the ICRC "to accompany and
confer neutral states to supply ships," the LTTE fears that
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) ships could also move alongside an ICRC
ship, protected, he explained. "The problem is that they
don't trust each other," Vandenhove added, and "the LTTE
doesn't oblige anyone."


4. (C) Comment: The ICRC remains a neutral humanitarian
organization that is generally respected by both the GSL and
the LTTE. Diplomatic missions relied on the ICRC to evacuate
the first 162 foreign nationals from Jaffna on August 26-27.
Despite setbacks from the side of the LTTE, ICRC-flagged
supply shipments are currently the only viable method to
bring humanitarian aid to affected populations in the north.
The ICRC will update the diplomatic community on the proposed
supply/passenger chain on the evening of August 29 and we
will report septel.


5. (C) Action Request: Embassy requests PRM and other
appropriate bureaus to liaise with the US mission in Geneva
to consider the ICRC's request for new CY2006 funding to
provide humanitarian relief in Sri Lanka. End Action
Request.
MOORE