The end of the 26 year civil war.

This has been the pronouncement of the Sri Lankan government. The latter has shunned criticisms including those from the West who expressed concerns over the civilian toll of the war. Instead, the country's foreign minister aired over a cable news that the recent events as a cause for “celebration,” adding that death is inevitable in war.

But there are reasons to doubt such pronouncement. Relief organisations, independent observers and the media have been barred from the conflict zone, where the United Nations sensed a “bloodbath” is going on. Although Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced that “the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has been defeated militarily,” it is not clear how much vendatta is brewing given the enormous casualties within the LTTE and in the region.

The Sri Lankan government and the LTTE have been blaming each other for the human catastrophe. But governments, international organisations and civil society account the two sides for deaths and injuries of civilians.

As Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Anna Neistat, for instance, highlighted the continuous shelling of hospitals. “They do not not only attack Tiger positions but cause casualities...The GPS coordinates of the hospitals were transmitted to the government. So we do believe that the government must have known the location of the hospitals.”

HRW managed to obtain the testimonies of doctors and other individuals in the region, receiving photographs of people who have been trapped in what are supposedly no-fire zone. Neistat added, “These images are horrific. But the most horrific part is you get the same images day after day after day.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was likewise barred from offloading relief even along the coast where people have been stranded. ICRC Director of Operations Pierre Krähenbühl lamented, "Despite high-level assurances, the lack of security on the ground means that our sea operations continue to be stalled, and this is unacceptable."

A few days ago, ICRC sent a ferry, Green Ocean, which was loaded with 25 metric tonnes of relief. The ferry was also expected to evacuate patients. Meanwhile the World Food Programme (WFP) is also preparing another ferry, Oriental Princess which has 500 metric tonnes of food.

But displaced and trapped civilians are not only worrying about their food and safety but also their lives afterwards. Although housed in evacuation centres, the refugees are guarded that they are not allowed to venture outside to look for missing family members. As one aid worker reported to BBC, “The crucial difference [between the north and the east] is that people are imprisoned in the camps [in the north]...I think the government considers the north to be much more sensitive and the chance of infiltration by the LTTE [is considered higher than in the east].” Ethnic Tamils are also not among the crowds in Colombo where jubilation is taking place.

Amnesty International estimates that around 200,000 have been displaced, 80,000 of them children while 7,000 were killed in the battle. The UN reported that on 13 May 2009 alone, 50 civilians died primarily because of an attack directed to a hospital.

Sources: Haviland, Charles. (25 April 2009) “Anticipating an end to Sri Lanka's war .” 

Amnesty International (18 May 2009). “Sri Lanka: Urgent Need for Human Rights Protection .” 

Hosken, Andrew. (7 May 2009). “Despair among Sri Lanka's refugees .”  

Human Rights Watch (May 2009). “Sri Lanka: Trapped and Under Fire .”  

International Committee of the Red Cross (14 May 2009). “Sri Lanka: humanitarian assistance can no longer reach civilians .” 

Zemke, Lydia (14 May 2009). “Sri Lanka: Intl Condemnation Mounts, Along With Body Count .”