Humanitarian Crisis in Northern Sri Lanka

Dear Sir,

We wish to express our deep concern regarding the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the North-East of Sri Lanka. We are medical, dental and health practitioners and members of the Australian Tamil Community. We abhor violence whether it originates from an individual, group or state. It is not our intention to comment on political matters but when human rights and humanitarian laws are violated we are duty bound to speak out. It is a matter of conscience and we consider it a further injustice to remain silent.

The civil war in Sri Lanka has raged for more than 25 years and has taken a heavy toll on the lives of ethnic Tamils; almost 75,000 have lost their lives. Over the years there have been several riots and pogroms directed against the Tamil people. There has been indiscriminate bombing of orphanages, hospitals, schools and places of worship by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces. The scorched earth policy by the Government has left large areas in north Sri Lanka completely devastated, with destruction of infrastructure and habitation, leaving towns and villages beyond recognition.

In the final stages of the civil war horrendous atrocities have been committed. According to the UN, approximately 6,500 Tamils have been killed and over 14,000 injured in the last three months of the war. Other reliable sources have estimated that more than 25,000 civilians have been killed and many more injured. The Sri Lankan Armed Forces have used rocket launchers, cluster, thermobaric and bunker bursting bombs from supersonic jets and other heavy weaponry in the conflict zone.

Those civilians who have escaped (the Internally Displaced People) the conflict zone are now boxed in by razor wire in so called detention facilities that are more akin to concentration camps. There is complete restriction of movement and no contact with the outside world. Non-government organisations and the media are not permitted into these areas except on rare heavily supervised occasions. These civilians are being subjected to abduction, torture, rape and extrajudicial killings. Men are separated from the women and many have been executed. Children have been taken away from their parents and killed or recruited as child soldiers by the government-backed paramilitaries. The refugees have been traumatized physically and mentally. This strategy will continue to unfold. This is a sustained campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Our immediate concern is for the children, women and the elderly, who are dying of malnutrition and starvation and from wounds sustained in the war. There is no aid for these human beings and the death toll is rising daily.

We implore you and your Government to use all your efforts to persuade the Sri Lankan Government to grant unhindered access to the detention camps by Aid Agencies to provide essential aid, medicine, food and shelter. We also implore you and your Government to prevail upon the Sri Lankan Government to allow international monitors/observers and the media access to these areas.

We implore you and your Government to seek an assurance from the Sri Lankan Government that these displaced people be allowed to return to their homes in the shortest possible time. We implore you and your Government to send immediate aid through well established and recognised Aid Agencies such as World Vision, Caritas and MSF. Any Australian or international aid should not be directed to the Sri Lankan Government. As Australian Tamil Doctors, we also request access to serve our people for their medical needs.


The Concerned Tamil Health Professionals of Australia


We implore you and your Government to

1. Persuade the Sri Lankan Government for unrestricted access by international NGOs to all the detention camps in the north and east of Sri Lanka in order to provide medical and food aid to the displaced Tamil civilians.
2. Persuade the Sri Lankan Government to allow the presence of international monitors/observers and media to the detention camps and monitor the resettlement of Tamils to their original habitats and restoration of their needs of livelihood.
3. Ensure freedom of movement of Tamils in the conflict zone and the abolition of detention camps.
4. Request for access by Tamil Australian doctors to serve our people for their medical needs.


Copy to:
1) Hon. Stephen Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600

2) Hon Julia Gillard MP, Deputy Prime Minister; Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations; Minister for Education; Minister for Social Inclusion.
Commonwealth of Australia, Capital Hill, ACT AUSTRALIA

3) Hon. Malcom Turnbull MP, Opposition leader,
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives 
Parliament House 
Canberra ACT 2600

4) The President, Australian Labour Party
PO Box 6022, House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600

5) Hon. Nathan Rees, The Premier NSW, GPO Box 5341,
SYDNEY NSW 2001

6) Hon. John Brumby, The Premier, Victoria, Parliament House,
East Melbourne, Victoria, 3002

7) Hon. Anna Bligh, Premier of Queensland, PO Box 15185
City East
Queensland 4002

8) International Non Governmental Organisations: World Vision, Caritas