UN pulls out of Sri Lanka
2008-09-09 14:08
Colombo - The United Nations said on Tuesday it was withdrawing all its aid agency personnel from Sri Lanka's embattled north, following a government order to quit ahead of a major military offensive.
Only a few aid agencies, including the UN outfits, still operate inside the rebel-held Wanni district in northern Sri Lanka. Government forces are currently engaged in a major push to dismantle the guerrilla's mini state there.
"A precise timetable for the complete withdrawal of all staff is yet to be determined, but relocations will begin this week," the UN said in a statement.
Sri Lanka's disaster management minister Mahinda Samarasinghe on Monday said Colombo could not guarantee the safety of aid workers "given the present situation".
"We asked them to leave the Wanni district immediately with all their resources," the minister said. "They wanted a week or two to comply."
The UN statement said it had noted that "the government recognises it holds primary responsibility for ensuring the safety of humanitarian workers".
It said it would re-assess how it could address the humanitarian needs of civilians.
Colombo wants to avoid troops being accused of killing aid workers in a repeat of the August 2006 massacre of 17 local employees of the French aid agency Action Against Hunger in the east of the island.
Aid officials have reported that about 134 000 people have been displaced from their homes in Wanni as a result of the current wave of fighting.
Tens of thousands of people have died on both sides since the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched a separatist campaign in 1972 for a homeland for minority Tamils in the island's north and east.