Humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka says UNICEF

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Updated April 28, 2009 19:16:53

Aid agencies in Sri Lanka are appealing for urgent assistance as the number of people in refugee camps in the country's north continues to grow. They're fleeing fighting between the government and the last of the rebel Tamil Tigers who are holding onto a small patch of coastal territory which is completely surrpounded. The military says it's trying to capture more territory and free the civilians it says are being held as human shields by the outnumbered and encircled rebels. Meanwhile the civillians who have managed to flee the fighting are being housed in makeshift refugee camps while the government screens them to see if there are any rebel combatants hiding amongst them. A UNICEF aid worker in Sri Lanka, James Elder, has just returned to the capital Colombu, from the refugee camps, and he says it's shaping up to be a genuine humanitarian crisis.

Presenter: Bruce Hill
Speakers:UNICEF aid worker in Sri Lanka, James Elder

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