Last five days have been so fearful for the people of Muollikkulam, a remote village in Sri Lankan Armed forces (SLA) occupied Musali division in Mannaar, Northwest of Sri Lanka. It is cut off from the rest of the world by the Sri Lankan government and its armed forces and the SOS messages warn impending catastrophe if no help is offered before Friday noon as children are stricken with diarrhea and fever while there are no medical supplies or baby food according to the sources in Musali.
The world Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs) such as UNICEF, ICRC, MF, World Vision, need to look into the serious humanitarian situation arising in the area and help all these nearly 500 people trapped in the area and bring them out of the near starvation. Musali cut off from the rest of the country means, that food, medicine, and other relief supplies cannot reach to the people in the area and causing immense sufferings and further hardships to them says a local aid worker.
The Sri Lankan governments and its armed forces and its leaders are neither heeding to the cries of these unfortunate people nor are they doing anything themselves to Improve this dreadful situation of people. Due to the siege by the Sri Lanka Navy, no fishing boat is able to leave the dock.
All the attempts to send supplies or transportation facilities to the villagers to evacuate them to Mannaar, Murungkan or Vangkaalai have been barred by the SLA in Chilavaththurai despite assurance to Mannaar Bishop Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph and the civil authorities by the SLA commands in Tha’l’laadi and Uyilangkulam.
The options, dropping dry supplies using helicopters, using boats to transport the civilians to Vangkaalai with the facilitation of ICRC and to send in supplies from Vannaaththivil in Puththalam district via Ilavangkulam to the village, have been denied by the military.
The people in the area feeling even more helpless now and they are feeling as though they are soon going to fall off the edge of the world. The world should act fast to resolve the situation in Musali area. The Sri Lankan government has no right to starve its citizens says another local aid worker in the area.
The only way left to the starving civilians is to walk for 20 km to SLA occupied Chilaavaththurai, across the Deep Penetration Unit (DPU) Claymore attack site at Paasiththenral where 13 civilians were killed.
In the ever worsening violence and human rights abuses in Sri Lanka, over 5,400 people killed including 44 aid workers and 10 journalists, close to 500,000 people internally displaced (IDP) while thousands of people were abducted and hundreds are missing within past twenty one months while more than 80,000 people lost their lives in more than three decades old war in Sri Lanka says an observer.
(http://www.tamileelamnews.com/news/publish/tns_8583.shtml)
Mannar IDP’s
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