Sri Lanka orders Red Cross to quit / Sri Lanka kaster ut Røde Kors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Sri Lanka's government has ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to close its offices in the island's former war zone, the Geneva-based humanitarian agency said Sunday.

The government told the ICRC to move out of two northern towns after the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in May last year brought about the end of decades of civil war, spokeswomen Sarasi Wijeratne said.

"The government has asked the ICRC to close the Jaffna and Vavuniya offices and operate only from Colombo," she told AFP, adding that no reason had been given for the move.

Wijeratne said the Jaffna office provided artificial limbs to war victims while the office in Vavuniya helped families visiting detained relatives.

There was no immediate confirmation from the government, but Sri Lankan authorities earlier this month tightened control over local and international non-governmental organisations.

The government information department said there were 250 international and 1,000 domestic aid agencies working in Sri Lanka, which would now have to register with the defence ministry following a change in the law.

Sri Lankan authorities have long been suspicious of aid agencies, which were often seen as sympathising with the Tamil Tigers during the country's civil war.

The conflict ended with a military offensive that has since triggered allegations of war crimes.

Kilde: AFP

Sri Lanka kaster ut Røde Kors

Sri Lankas regjering har bedt Den internasjonale Røde Kors-komiteen (ICRC) om å stenge kontorer i de tamilsk-dominerte områdene nord på øya.

Røde Kors må forlate de to byene Jaffna og Vavuniya og kun drive sin virksomhet fra hovedstaden Colombo, opplyste talskvinne Sarasi Wijeratne for ICRC.Kontoret i Jaffna har levert proteser til krigsofre, mens kontoret i Vavuniya har sørget for at tamilske familier har kunnet besøke slektninger som sitter fengslet.

Opplysningene er ikke bekreftet av regjeringen. Sri Lankas president Mahinda Rajapakse, som nylig ble nylig innsatt som president i seks nye år, anklages av opposisjonen og internasjonale observatører for å bli stadig mer autoritær. Nylig innførte han strengere kontroll med både lokale og utenlandske hjelpeorganisasjoner, i følge NTB.

- Av Majoran Vivekananthan