Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 62

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000469

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR SCA (BOUCHER),SCA/INS AND PRM
STATE ALSO PASS USAID
AID/W FOR ANE/SCA, DCHA/FFP (DWORKEN, KSHEIN)
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA (MORRISP, ACONVERY, RTHAYER, RKERR)
ATHENS FOR PCARTER
BANGKOK FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA (WBERGER)
KATHMANDU FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA AND POL (SBERRY)
GENEVA FOR RMA (NKYLOH, NHILGERT, MPITOTTI)
USUN NEW YORK FOR ECOSOC (D MERCADO)
SECDEF FOR OSD - POLICY
PACOM ALSO FOR J-5

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF MOPS PHUM PGOV PREL ASEC CE
SUBJECT: Northern Sri Lanka SitRep 62

REF: A) Colombo 464 B) Colombo 459 C) Colombo 456 D) Colombo 454 E)
Colombo 448 F) Colombo 435 G) Colombo 432 H) Colombo 425 I) Colombo
418 J) Colombo 414 K) Colombo 413 and previous

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1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On April 27, the Government announced it would
end use of heavy weapons in the conflict zone given the threat to
civilians. However, according to several still unconfirmed reports,
shelling into the "safe zone" continued on April 28. The Government
did not approve UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs
John Holmes' requests for UN access to the conflict zone, nor to the
release of UN local workers residing in IDP camps. 40MT of food for
trapped civilians was delivered on April 28. End summary.

END TO COMBAT?
--------------


2. (SBU) While the Government of Sri Lanka declared an end of combat
operations on April 27, unconfirmed reports of shelling in the
Government-declared "safe zone" continued today, April 28. Two
sources in the conflict zone e-mailed photographs purportedly dated
April 28 at 10 a.m. and labeled as Mullivaikkal and Iraddaivaikkal,
areas within the "safe zone." Several photographs of explosions on
land were taken from a vantage point offshore. Post is seeking
confirmation of the reports of shelling from other sources with
contacts in the conflict area.

HOLMES LEAVES "DISAPPOINTED"
--------------


3. (SBU) UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John
Holmes left Sri Lanka on April 27 with few concrete gains. The Sri
Lankan government did not approve his requests for UN access to the
conflict area and for the release of UN local staff workers from IDP
camps. He was publicly skeptical of the Government's vow to end
heavy combat operations, given similar promises in recent months.
He told reporters, "I hope that the idea of not using heavy weapons
will genuinely be respected, which I am afraid has not been the case
in the past." Holmes announced during his visit that the UN would
provide an additional $10M to support IDP assistance.

UK, FRENCH, JAPANESE DELEGATIONS
--------------


4. (SBU) British Minister for International Development Mike Foster
visited Sri Lanka on April 27. British Deputy High Commissioner
told Charge that Foster pressed the Government for a pause in
fighting to allow humanitarian assistance into the safe zone. He
urged international monitoring of IDP screening centers, greater
access to IDP transit sites, and greater freedom of movement by
IDPs, as well as early returns of IDPs to their home villages. The
day before the visit, Prime Minister Brown announced 2.5 million
pounds in new humanitarian assistance for Sri Lanka, some of which
may be used for demining.


5. (SBU) During their April 29 visit, British Foreign Secretary
David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will
meet with the President, government officials, opposition leaders,
and the UN and will visit IDP transit sites in Vavuniya. A

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five-member Parliamentary delegation headed by Des Browne scheduled
for April 30-May 2 has been postponed to May 4-6 at the request of
the Government.


6. (SBU) This requested delay may be because of a visit by Japanese
Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi. The Japanese Embassy told us today
that Akashi plans to come to Sri Lanka from April 30-May 3. Akashi
is also seeking access to IDP camps.

CONDITIONS IN IDP SITES
--------------


7. (SBU) The rush of civilians who fled the safe zone since April 20
clearly overburdened Government registration capabilities. Efforts
to provide food to civilians pending registration in the interim at
Omanthai, where only UNHCR and ICRC have regular access, are ad-hoc.
Post has received a report from a medical worker in the Vavuniya
area that on April 27 buses started taking all boys ages 14 - 35
from two schools in Vavuniya used as transit facilities en route to
the longer-term camps. The youths were told they were being taken
under the Prevention of Terrorism Act to a police station for
screening. However, the young men have reportedly not turned up at
any police station, and their current location is unknown. Post
plans to follow up with ICRC to determine if it is aware of the
reports, if the ICRC considers this to be an appropriate screening
approach, and whether ICRC protection officers have access for
monitoring to the facilities where the youths have been taken.

ADDITIONAL AID
--------------


8. (U) On April 27, UNHCR airlifted nearly 3,000 family-sized tents
from the UNHCR warehouse in Dubai to Colombo for distribution to
civilians displaced in northern Sri Lanka. UNICEF also announced
the arrival of a 50MT airlift to Colombo of nutritional supplies,
water treatment units for safe water, oral rehydration salts, and
medical supplies, and noted another shipment is due to arrive
shortly. The Government of India pledged 1 Billion Indian Rupees
(approximately $20M) for relief and rehabilitation for displaced
Tamil civilians.

FOOD DELIVERED TO CONFLICT ZONE
--------------


9. (SBU) Due to security concerns and offloading and storage
limitations, a ship transporting 1,030 metric tons (MTs) of World
Food Programme (WFP)-donated food was diverted from Mullaitivu to
Jaffna. To respond to the immediate need for food in the conflict
area, WFP is sending small shipments with the ICRC-flagged ferry,
Green Ocean. On April 28, the Green Ocean transported the first
shipment of food to the conflict area since April 1. The shipment
included 40 MTs of rice (34),lentils (4),sugar (1),and oil (1).
(Note: based on UN low-end estimates of 50,000 persons still within
the LTTE-controlled pocket, 27 MTs would be needed each day.) Once
offloading is completed and patients are evacuated, the ICRC ferry
will continue the following rotation: every second trip, the ferry
will transport 30 to 40 MTs of complementary food provided by the
non-governmental organization ZOA. Because ICRC offloads patients

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in Pulmoddai, WFP is staging food shipments in Pulmoddai for
transportation to the conflict area.

ESTIMATES OF CIVILIAN DISPLACEMENT
--------------


10. (SBU) OCHA reports an increase of 40,000 IDPs to the
Government-designated IDP camps in recent days. This brings the
total number of documented arrivals into Government-controlled
territory since late October to 151,231. These civilians are
located in Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar and Trincomalee. However, this
figure probably does not include approximately 30,000 of IDPs still
en route to transit facilities, according to Defense Ministry
announcements regarding rescued civilians. On April 27, John Holmes
cited a possible total of 200,000. The UN estimates that at least
50,000 people are still trapped in the conflict zone. Estimates
provided by sources inside the safe zone range as high as 165,000,
but these may be under pressure from the LTTE to over-report the
numbers.

MOORE