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 23 November 2009
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UN humanitarian chief says things are changing for better in Sri Lanka

23/11/2009

The release of internally displaced people from camps in northern Sri Lanka has been moving at a very fast pace according to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator.

John Holmes

John Holmes

John Holmes, back from a visit to Sri Lanka, says when he visited the Menik Farm camp last week, the number of the displaced people there was less than half of what it had been at end of hostilities.

Mr. Holmes estimates that between one and three thousand internally displaced people a day are returning home.

He says the other good news is the announcement by the government on Saturday that from the beginning of December there will be freedom of movement for the internally displaced people.

"This question of freedom of movement has been fundamental from the start even more than the question of returns because if people can move freely in and out of camps, then the question of the speed of return becomes a little bit less critical. It's clear that those who are leaving the camps and going back home welcome that process very much. Nevertheless there are concerns about the quality of the return process, if I can put it that way, how consultative it is, how much the IDPs themselves are involved with the process, how much notice they have."

John Holmes adds that United Nations agencies have themselves expressed concerns to the government about how much or how little notice they receive before people start moving to particular areas.

He says there are also concerns about how fast the demining process is taking place and about the quality of basic services available in areas to which people are returning.

Diane Bailey, United Nations Radio
(duration: 1'33")

Sound bites

John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Cut 1

"This question of freedom of movement has been fundamental from the start even more than the question of returns because if people can move freely in and out of camps, then the question of the speed of return becomes a little bit less critical. It's clear that those who are leaving the camps and going back home welcome that process very much. Nevertheless there are concerns about the quality of the return process, if I can put it that way, how consultative it is, how much the IDPs themselves are involved with the process, how much notice they have."
Duration: 00:00:25

John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Cut 2

"I think the main thing to say is that things have been changing for the better in the last few weeks and I was able to confirm that myself. I think the main point is that the release of IDPs from the camps has been going on at a very fast pace and is continuing. When I was in Menik Farm at the end of last week the number of people there was less than half what it had been at the end of the hostilities, less than 135,000 compared to around 280,000 at the very end of the hostilities and the start of the current phase with the IDPs in camps. And that's good news. That process of return is continuing, one, two, three thousand a day, something like that."
Duration: 00:00:44

John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Cut 3

"So, this process is continuing. That's one of the things we have obviously been asking for that people should be released from the camps and allowed to return home. It's good to see that happening at a good speed. Now the governments have made it clear, they made it clear to me while I was there privately and they have confirmed it again publicly since then that their intention is to have everybody out of the camps by the end of January 2010."
Duration: 00:00:22

John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Cut 4

"The other piece of good news is that the government has announced this is after my visit on Saturday by the presidential adviser, Basil Rajapaksha, that there will be, from 1st December, freedom of movement for the IDPs. They will be allowed to go in and out of the camps, subject to a registration process. We are still trying to find out exactly some of the details of how that will work and the implications of it. But basically, this looks like good news again. It's something we have asked for from the beginning that they should have freedom of movement as normally in IDP camps. They should be able to move freely."
Duration: 0:00:39

John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Cut 5

"We have expressed concerns to the government about how much notice we have as UN agencies before movements of people in particular directions to enable ourselves to prepare. So there are those concerns there are about how fast the demininig process is continuing, what the quality of basic services in the areas to which people are returning, and we will continue to follow up with concern. Nevertheless, as I say, the important thing is that people are happy to be going back, and I was able to confirm that for myself by talking to people who were about to return from Menik Farm and by talking to people who had just gone back to some of these areas."
Duration: 00:00:35

John Holmes, United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Cut 6

"The other area we need to keep focusing on is accountability for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law by both sides during the conflict. You will see that there was a U.S. Congressional report which raised some concerns about this. The president has appointed a committee of experts to look into thE allegations in that report, and we will see how that progresses in terms of providing the kind of accountability process there which we and others are certainly looking for."
Duration: 00:00:31