United Nations Radio

The escalating armed conflict in Sri Lanka has resulted in virtually no safety for children, a watchdog organization contends in its latest report.

The report 'No Safety, No Escape' details human rights violations against children caught in two decades of fighting on the island, including killings, abductions, disappearances and threats. It comes from The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, a global network of non-governmental organizations.

Bhavani Fonseka, a senior researcher with the Centre for Policy Alternatives in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, says the report tells only part of the story.

"What is reported is just a reflection of the ground situation. There's so much more that's going on in Sri Lanka. You know, talking to people in the ground, you get a sense. But it's really living in those areas that (you) really have an idea as to what's going on."

Ms. Fonseka, who is an attorney, said there has been 'a total collapse" in investigations and reporting on human rights issues in Sri Lanka, where government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam and armed breakaway groups have been fighting since the early 1980s. One of the report's recommendations is to look into international options for monitoring human rights violations.

The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict calls on all armed forces and groups in Sri Lanka to immediately halt violations against children. It also recommends that the UN Security Council send a delegation from its Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict to conduct a field mission in Sri Lanka.

For UN Radio, I'm Dianne Penn.

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