Measuring Commitment to Best Practice
HRI 2008
SRI LANKA
In August 2006, the long conflict in Sri Lanka experienced a new outbreak of violence. Five months later, in January 2008, the ceasefire signed by the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ended. As a result, more than 215,000 people were forced to relocate within the country, while 10,000 fled to India. These figures are in addition to those produced earlier in the conflict as well as those caused by the 2004 tsunami. According to the Common Humanitarian Action Plan, the donors should be prepared to assist 500,000 people in 2008.
The humanitarian crisis
• Displaced. Determining the exact number of internally displaced persons in Sri Lanka is difficult. This is due to the number of displaced persons overlapping from the multiple phases of the conflict as well as those forced to relocate due to the tsunami. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimated that there were 520,000 displaced people at the end of 2006; one of the largest figures in all of South Asia.
• Humanitarian Assistance. The extreme circumstances caused by the confrontations considerably limit the ability of the humanitarian community to provide the assistance the population needs. At the end of 2007, the Tamils informed the humanitarian actors of their inability to guarantee security in the northern part of the country – the area under their control. In 2007, Sri Lanka was the third most dangerous country for humanitarian workers, after Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2006, 17 workers from Action Against Hunger lost their lives in the country.
• Violation on International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. They systematic violation of Human Rights by both parties to the conflict has been denounced by various international organisations. According to Amnesty International, the number of homicides, kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, rapes, disappearances and different war crimes has increased dramatically over the last year.
Maps
- Humanitarian access 2007/2008
- IDPs and Returness Trends by District
Source: Reliefweb.
Background information on Sri Lanka
• Population (2004): 19.121 million
• Human Development Index (2005): 99th out of 170 countries
• Gender-related Development Index (2005): 88th out of 177 countries
• GDP per capita (2005): $4,595
• Life expectancy at birth (2000-2005): 71.6
• Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births (2005): 12
• Undernourished population (2002-2004): 22%
• Population not using an improved water source (2004): 21%
• Adult literacy rate (1995-2005): 90,7 %
• Official Development Assistance (2005): -
• Political system: Democratic Socialist Republic
Source: Human Development Report, 2007
The humanitarian response
• United Nations. The UN Common Humanitarian Action Plan was launched on February 4, 2008; the amount required rose to 175.4 million dollars. At the end of the same month, only 17% of the requested amount had been received.
• Main donors. More than 90% of the contributions came from unspecified donors and private organisations.
Source: OCHA, Financial Tracking Service
More information
• International Rescue Committee report, Sri Lanka´s Return to War: Limiting the Damage. Information on the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka updated in February 2008.
• Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) report, Civilian in the Way of Conflict: Displaced People in Sri Lanka, September 2007. - Document that provides detailed analysis of the conditions of displaced people in Sri Lanka.
• Amnesty International 2007 Report on Sri Lanka. - Information on Human Rights in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka crisis in the HRI
DARA has included Sri Lanka in the HRI 2008 because it is a long-lasting conflict resulting in the highest number of internally displaced people in South Asia. Furthermore, it is a complex emergency in which a variety of different actors intervene.
Other crises assessed in the HRI 2008