Medical officer in Sri Lanka war zone says 300,000 in the area
Dr.T.Sathiyamoorthy, Regional Director of Health of Kilinochchi district, in a media statement on Saturday March 28th said the overwhelming majority of the people from Kilinochchi and Mullithivu districts are still in Vanni.
He pointed out the different stakeholders have various figures on the exact population, but the neglected population is in urgent need of support from all relevant authorities.
Dr. Sathiyamoorthy said ground situation confirms the population in Vanni is more than 300,000. People from Mannar and Vavuniya North also moved to this area during the escalation of fighting during 2008.
Photos of living conditions in Vanni:
At Valagnanyarmadam
Pokkanai near the shore
Pokkanai near the shore
Pokkanai near the shore
Pokkanai near the shore
Several independent reports have said the number of people in Vanni far exceeds the 70,000 being given out by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Tamil parliamentarians have said Sri Lanka is using lower figures in Vanni to continue using “food as weapon”- to limit the amount of food, drinking water and medicine that is allowed to trickle into the area. UN officials have been giving out an estimate ranging from 150,000 to 200,000 people in the area.
Independent analysts point out Sri Lanka has been putting out unverified reports of higher number of people coming into the government held areas, in order to reap financial assistance from donor nations, amidst severe balance of payments issues threatening the financial stability of the nation. Also, human Rights organizations have been urging Sri Lanka to refrain from detaining Tamil civilians moving into the government administrated areas.
