Sri Lanka is very much in the news these days. This blog does not want to repeat what's been said. Quick googling should allow anyone to find more about the crisis in Sri Lanka. The gist is that Sri Lankan armed forces are gaining more ground against the LTTE.
Recently literally hundreds of thousands of people have fleed LTTE-controlled areas and are now in IDP camps in various places in the North. Estimates of how many still trapped between the fighting in the No Fire Zone is contested. Estimates range from 20,000 (SL Govt estimate) to more than 50,000 (UN Agencies).
According to our sources, most Aid-agencies have access to the camps. These include international aid agencies such as Care, Oxfam, UNHCR, UNICEF, Worldvision and local NGOs like Sarvodaya have access to the camps. There are also citizen-led initiatives. More information on how to help is available on sites such as savevanni.org
For more on the background, Reuters has a very useful Q+A on the situation. A must-read for anyone who wants the gist.
The debates on whether the entire military offensive is worth it is raging in the Sri Lankan blogosphere. Much notable writing keeps getting published all-over mainstream media on Sri Lanka. Keep Tabs on these things.
and if you can, help.
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