Sri Lanka IDP Camps in Jaffna Request Assistance
 Most of us will be aware of the dreadful situation in Sri Lanka and the plight of the Tamil people. A member of the Inspire core team, Karen Dey, works with Jenny Sinnadurai in Sri Lanka and around the world to support the Tamil people. The attached report summarises the current situation and also identifies some urgent needs. We would love the Inspire churches to respond positively to do what we can to help. Any gifts should be made payable to Links International with a note that the finance is designated to the Paalam Project and sent to Links international Thank you for prayerfully considering this.
Latest Newsletter
In March we sent the Paalam Newsletter to you expressing our desire to provide aid into the IDP (Internally Displaced People Camps) in Jaffna but at that time the Sri Lankan Government was not allowing anyone to visit the camps. In March there were just 4 camps in Jaffna, but as the conflict was increasing, the amount of people fleeing from the conflict zone increased.
By April the camps in Jaffna were not able to cope with this sudden influx of the large amounts of people arriving. The Paalam Project was contacted by the local authorities in charge of the camps requesting urgent assistance into the camps. There are now 12 camps with between 200 – 1,700 people in each camp.
We began taking teams of 7 people from our church ministry team into each camp. On visiting the camps we were requested by the army and the people in the camp to provide essential items that the army was not able to provide for them. Many of these people have been hiding in bunkers for months and are traumatised, exhausted and severely malnourished. The camps are severely overcrowded and unable to meet the basic food and shelter needs of those who are arriving. Most of the camps are without decent water and sanitation facilities. Those detained in these camps which are surrounded by barbed-wire fences are denied their liberty or freedom. They are not allowed to leave the camps and visiting is severely restricted. By God’s Grace our church has been able to enter many of these camps now.
Many children have witnessed terrible scenes as they escaped to safety. Some saw their parents killed or were separated from them during the journey. These children will need intensive counselling in the near future. The sense of fear amongst those in the camp is strong, unsure of what the future holds.
For the past month we have been visiting the camps on a weekly basis providing families with such items as babies milk bottles, milk powder, flasks for hot water, Nestamalt build up for children, supplementary food items, medications, milk powder for adults, soap, babies and children’s clothing, sarongs for men and saris and dresses for ladies.
Many war victims are also in the Jaffna teaching hospital and other local hospitals in Jaffna. Most are suffering from severe burns, bullet and shrapnel wounds. Our teams have been visiting these hospitals and providing the patients affected by the war with meals, and any medications requested by the hospital. We have also assisted to provide to the hospitals with such things as vitamins and food supplements, water beds for burns patients, burns clothing, colostomy bags, replacement glass eyes, and Jaipur Limbs.
The Paalam Project has made a request to the Ministry of Defence to release children who have no parents or guardians with them in the camps, to the Paalam Children’s Home in Jaffna.
At present we are working with two children in the Jaffna hospital, Mythili a 9 year old girl and Subashkaran an 11 year old boy, who have no parents or guardians. When they were escaping out of the Vanni area their family was catching a boat together when shelling started. The children were pulled into the boat but their parents were left behind. We are not sure if their parents are alive so have requested that these children to be released to the children’s home once they are discharged from hospital. Both are being treated for bullet and shrapnel wounds.
The A9, the only road into Jaffna, remains closed to private vehicles so the only way to provide these essential items to the camps and hospital is by purchasing them from the shops in Jaffna. Each time we visit a camp we need around £800 to purchase the necessary goods to distribute to the camp people. To date we have managed to do this thanks to donations from our own churches in Sri Lanka, Europe and Canada, but we are now seeking financial help from other sources so that we can continue this work into the IDP camps and hospitals in Jaffna.
Donations
The Paalam Project urgently requires donations to continue the work that our teams are doing in Jaffna amongst the Vanni War Victims.
£20 could pay for a family start up pack containing: 1 hot water flask, 2 cups, Milk Powder, sugar, Nestamalt, children’s Calpol (Paracetamol), soap and clothes for family members.
£30 can provide 3 nutritious, cooked meals for 20 patients at the Jaffna hospital for a day.
£50 could provide High Protein Milk Powder Supplements to 130 malnourished men, women, and children in the Kopay IDP Camp for a week.
Please send donations to: Links International (Designated to Paalam Project – VANNI IDP AID)
PO Box 198, Littlehampton,
West Sussex, BN16 3UQ, UK
Tel: 01903 778515 Fax: 01903 778516 Email: office@linksinternational.org.uk
Make cheques Payable to Links International
If you would like to directly support the “ VANNI IDP AID PROJECT” our bank details in Sri Lanka are:
Paalam Project
Account Number: 35 00 01 68299012
Hatton National Bank
270 Negambo Road
Wattala
Sri Lanka
SWIFT: HBLILKLX
OR
Paalam Children's Home
Hatton National Bank
Hospital Road
Jaffna
Sri Lanka
A/C No: 0191768019
SWIFT: HBLILKLX
For more information contact:
Karen Dey (Directly in Sri Lanka)
Email: paalamsl@yahoo.co.uk
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST FOR SRI LANKA
Please join with us in praying for the Tamil people in Sri Lanka at this time.
For the Sri Lankan government to work with aid agencies and the international community to make sure the camps are of a decent standard so the displaced people get the help they urgently need.
In the long term the government of Sri Lanka will work towards letting the displaced people return home as soon as possible. That the people will not be allowed to remain in these camps for years and instead will be housed with relatives or friends as soon as possible.
In addition to the camps being brought into line with international standards, independent observers such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees or the International Committee for the Red Cross must witness the screening process which separates any remaining Tamil Tigers from civilians.
That the end of the war should mark the beginning of reconciliation of healing the wounds of the Tamil people.
For Tamils to be treated with dignity, to win their hearts and minds.
That the Tamil community all over Sri Lanka will not be targeted now that the LTTE have been defeated.
That the ministry of defence would give the Paalam Project and other aid agencies permission to transport goods from Colombo up the A9 (the main road into Jaffna) to the IDP camps in Jaffna.
Pray for the Paalam Project workers safety as they visit the camps and hospitals in Jaffna and Colombo. In particular pray for Sweette (Paalam Children’s Home Manager) who is heading up this work in the North.
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