SRI LANKA: SMALLER IDP CAMPS EXHIBIT SOME

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 COLOMBO 000774

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INSB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM EAID CE
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA: SMALLER IDP CAMPS EXHIBIT SOME
SIMILARITIES TO, SOME DIFFERENCES FROM, MANIK FARM CAMPS

REF: A) COLOMBO 769 B) COLOMBO 753

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES JAMES R. MOORE. REASONS: 1.4 (B, D)


1. (C) Summary: While the large IDP camp complex at Manik
Farm in Vavuniya is the focus of most international attention
and press reports, there are nonetheless a number of IDPs
held in smaller camps in other areas across Northern and
Eastern Sri Lanka. These camps often include a mixture of
very recent IDPs, who came out of the "No-Fire Zone" near the
end of the war, and other IDPs who have been displaced and in
the camps for a number of months or even years. Humanitarian
conditions in these camps appear to be in general terms
similar to those found in the Manik Farm camps, with some
notable differences in camp management. Relations with local
government and military officials often seem better at these
smaller camps, and INGOs and NGOs are able to get in and
address some of the acute humanitarian problems that develop.
On the other hand, freedom of movement at these smaller
camps is mixed, with IDPs in Pulmoddai completely restricted
to camp aside from medical needs, while some IDPs in camps in
Mannar are actually being issued 7 day passes, allowing them
to leave the camps to find work in the local area. Although
direct reports have not been obtained by Post for all the IDP
camps outside of Manik Farm, Post has received no word of any
regular IDP camps that are completely inaccessible to INGOs
and NGOs. End Summary.

PULMODDAI CAMP ACCESS GOOD, FAMILY SEPARATION A PROBLEM
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2. (SBU) A UNHCR representative reported to Post on August 4
that her organization had good access to the IDP camps near
Pulmoddai on the east coast. Officially this camp is known
as the Sahanagama Camp, with two separate facilities housing
a total of 2,256 families, or 6,831 individuals. The UNHCR
contact said many of these individuals had been evacuated
from the "No-Fire Zone" by ICRC in the final weeks of the
war, either as wounded or sick, or their caregivers. Most
were housed in tents with plastic sheeting similar to what
can be found at Manik Farm, but congestion was not as much of
a problem in Pulmoddai as at those very large camps. The
residents basic needs are being met, at least to emergency
standards, but family separation issues are a frequent
problem. Because of the hurried nature of the
medical-related evacuations towards the end of the conflict,
many of these IDPs were separated at that time from other
family members, who are in many cases now housed in Manik
Farm. Little progress to date has been made on these sorts
of family reunification needs at Pulmoddai. 28 elderly IDPs
have been released from the Pulmoddai camp thus far.
Although other elderly persons have registered to be
released, the processing of these requests has been slow.
While there is virtually no freedom of movement for the
people in this camp, the security presence is reported to be
less extensive than on the periphery of Manik Farm. The
military controls the exterior security of the camp and
police are responsible for patrolling inside. UNHCR has had
good success in working with the Ministry of Social Services
personnel there dealing with the camp to address the concerns
of special needs residents, such as obtaining wheelchairs for
disabled IDPs. Post contacted a smaller INGO working in the
Pulmoddai area who concurred that access for both INGOs and
NGOs was not a problem at the camp in Pulmoddai. He felt
this was in large part because access to the camps was
handled by civil authorities rather than the Ministry of
Defence.

FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT IN MANNAR CAMPS
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3. (SBU) This same UNHCR representative reported that
freedom of movement was significantly better in some of the
IDP camps in the Mannar area, with passes being issued in
some cases which allowed IDPs to leave the camps and return.
These passes were issued for up to 7 days, so in some
instances IDPs were able to leave the camps and find
short-term work. Returns to the camps were induced by camp
authorities through a combination of the passes and family
ties, with at least one member of a family required to remain
back at the camp. These passes were available not just for
IDPs who had been housed in Mannar for some time, but also
for some 500 IDPs who had recently arrived from the Vavuniya
camps, possibly as a result of GSL efforts to decongest those
larger camps at Manik Farm.

JAFFNA AREA CAMPS
--------------


4. (SBU) PolOff recently visited the Ramavil IDP camp on the
Jaffna Peninsula. This camp contains IDPs who were among the
last civilians to emerge from the "No-Fire Zone" in mid-May.
There are several IDP camps on the Jaffna Peninsula; this
camp contains 727 families, or 2,440 individuals. Conditions
there were generally adequate in terms of the most basic
needs, but there were still some problems reported by
residents of insufficient toilets and access to water for
bathing and drinking. Drainage was a problem, with flooding
of some camp areas during rainstorms and more problems
anticipated once the rainy season arrives. Housing consisted
of cadjan huts, about 8 ft by 10 ft, with anywhere from 2 to
8 persons in each hut. Camp managers reported that
approximately 70% of camp residents did not have their
original national identity cards or copies of birth
certificates, in large part because many were displaced
multiple times over the last year or so. School facilities
were in place, with both a pre-school set up by Save the
Children inside the camp attending to 425 children, and a
grade school set up by UNICEF just outside of the camp for
1,388 students from grade 1 through high school. The grade
school was housed mainly in temporary sheds, with a handful
of classes held outside under trees due to lack of space.
The teachers were reported to be a combination of camp
residents and government teachers from the area.


5. (SBU) Camp residents appeared calm but very eager to
return to their homes. Camp authorities hoped to have
vocational training started for adults, but this had not yet
happened, and adult residents had little to occupy their
time. Local Catholic authorities are allowed to visit the
camp to hold services, and a Hindu worship area has been set
up in one corner of the camp. INGOs working in the area did
not report significant problems with camp access. The
military commander in charge of all the camps in the Jaffna
area was very friendly and helpful, and appeared genuinely
eager to meet Post's delegation and answer questions.

CONVERSATIONS WITH JAFFNA CAMP RESIDENTS
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6. (C) PolOff spoke with several residents of the Jaffna
camp, all of whom expressed their strong desire to go home.
When asked about politics and elections in general, they all
said they would vote for whichever candidate or party was
able to get them home. PolOff spoke with a dual Swedish-Sri
Lankan national (please protect). This person had come to
Sri Lanka to visit family while taking a break from
university studies in 2007. He had planned to stay six
months in Sri Lanka, but was then unable to get out of
LTTE-held territory and was trapped behind the SLA-LTTE line
of control right up until the end of the conflict, when he
was finally able to escape the "No-Fire Zone" during the last

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several days of the war. He told PolOff that during the last
days of fighting many civilians were killed and wounded by
both sides, and the LTTE prevented civilians from escaping.
He said most of the people in this camp had similar stories,
had kept quiet about them up until now, and would likely
continue to do so for some time for fear of reprisals by the
government. It is still unknown how many dual national IDPs
such as this person exist in the camps at large. Post
contacted the Swedish mission in Colombo to relay that PolOff
had been in contact with this particular man. They were
aware of his presence at that camp and had spoken to him by
phone, but had not been able to see him in person yet, and
had no word from GSL about possibly releasing him separately
in spite of their requests to the MFA.

COMMENT
--------------


7. (C) While it appears there are some differences in the
way the smaller IDP camps outside of Manik Farm are being
managed, in general the humanitarian conditions are fairly
similar, and there do not appear to be any camps that have
disappeared off the radar screen of the INGOs. Where camps
are small, INGOs and NGOs seem to develop constructive
working relationships on the ground to deal with major camp
issues. It is unclear how the government intends to deal
with the large number of IDPs who were present inside the
No-Fire Zone in the final weeks of the war, and specifically
with the accounts they likely could tell of civilian dead and
wounded during that time-period. The account of the dual
national that PolOff interviewed is consistent with other
accounts we have heard, indicating that both sides were
responsible for significant civilian injuries and deaths, and
that the LTTE prevented civilians from leaving the zone by
firing on them.
MOORE