Civilians 'trapped' in offensive against Tamil Tigers
Updated
India's External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has held emergency meetings with the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and expressed his concern for civilians caught in the military offensive against Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka's north. Sri Lanka says it's doing all it can to spare civilians. But the international Red Cross says a major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in northern Sri Lanka.
Presenter: Sen Lam, presenter of Radio Australia's Connect Asia
Speaker: Pranab Mukherjee, Indian External Affairs Minister; Paul O'Callaghan, executive director, Australian Council for International Development, Canberra
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O'CALLAGHAN: Eh, I think there's no definitive information for any outsiders there. What we do know is that no parties are allowed to go in to monitor or verify claims by either of the combatants in this matter, particularly regarding civilian deaths.
LAM: But you've been following the situation for sometime now. Do you think that the situation amongst the Tamil civilians in the island's north, that it's quite dire from what you can gather?
O'CALLAGHAN: There's no question that it's extreme. You would be aware the United Nations Secretary-General issued a statement yesterday expressing very serious concern about the situation facing civilians, particularly internally displaced people, about a quarter of a million of them who are trapped in the midst of this fighting. The head of the International Red Cross has issued a statement also about the major humanitarian crisis that's there and a very large numbers of people trapped in the fighting. A number of other governments have expressed a serious concern about the lack of protection for civilians who are caught in these areas. So there is no question that it is a very extreme situation and that many civilians are dying.
LAM: And Paul, you mentioned the ICRC. Indeed, at a meeting in Geneva, the ICRC said that much of the fighting in Sri Lanka's north was not compatible with the basic rules of conflict, that there was no distinction made between civilian and military structures. What can you tell us about this? Do we have evidence of this?
O'CALLAGHAN: Well, the unfortunate thing is that it is not possible for any international monitors or foreign media to be able to be there, to be able to report on these things and this means that claims of either side cannot be verified. All we know is that the current quarter of a million or so civilians who are in this area have been, it's been claimed by the International Red Cross and the United Nations, these people are facing very serious concerns for physical safety. We know that there have been deaths during this last part of the campaign amongst internally displaced people and it's a very extreme circumstance. I think it's not very common for the UN Secretary-General, head of the Red Cross, a range of other governments to be coming out and pleading with both sides to in such a strong way. But there needs to be a respect for no fire zones and for safe zones to be respected properly and expanded so that these poor people who are caught in the middle, who are completely innocent victims of this civil war can be kept safe, and particularly so that medical supplies can get into these communities and this is at the moment, this week, this is a very acute situation. This is one of those occasions as we saw in Gaza, where it is necessary for external players, particularly the media or international monitors to be able to see what is actually happening and whether internally displaced people are able to access medical supplies, food, water or shelter. Our understanding is that there are many people at the moment, innocent civilians who are suffering greatly.
