9 years today – Hospital hit again, Obama calls for an end to the shelling
Photographs: The aftermath of a shell attack on May 13th 2009.
13May 2018
Marking 9 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Day’. The total number of Tamil civilians killed during the final months is widely contested. After providing an initial death toll of 40,000, the UN found evidence suggesting that 70,000 were killed. Local census records indicate that at least 146,679 people are unaccounted for and presumed to have been killed during the Sri Lankan military offensive.
13th May 2009
The same hospital hit again
More than 100 civilians, including children, medical staff, a voluntary doctor and an Red Cross worker, were killed in Sri Lankan artillery attack that targeted a makeshift hospital for the second time in 24 hours. See more from TamilNet here.
The ICRC confirmed that one its employees, identified as Sivakurunathan Majuran, was killed alongside his mother in the shelling. The organisation confirmed the hospital had been “hit by shell fire for a third time”.
In another incident of shelling, at least 39 female patients were also killed at a counselling aid centre for mentally ill women located in the final conflict zone.
The OISL reports that at the time, UN estimates said there were “more than 100,000 civilians remained trapped within three square kilometres”.
It added,
“By 13 May, with shells falling all around, sometimes into the compound, the only treatment that could be given was basic first aid and medication”“Letters seen by OISL, consistent with witness accounts, including from United Nations and humanitarian workers, indicate that GPS coordinates of most hospital and other humanitarian facilities, including when they were relocated due to fighting, were transmitted to the Government, the SFHQ in Vavuniya and other Sri Lankan security forces, as well as the LTTE, to ensure that these facilities would be protected from attack.”“During that time, the ICRC ship – which at that stage would have been the only possibility for taking patients for life-saving medical treatment - was not able to approach the shore because the shelling and gunfire was continuing.”
Photographs: The aftermath of a shell attack on May 13th 2009.
Obama calls for an end to the shelling
US President Barack Obama stepped out on to the White House lawn to make a statement on Sri Lanka. He called for “urgent action” and for the Sri Lankan government to “stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives”.
See extracts of his statement below.
“As some of you know, we have a humanitarian crisis that's taking place in Sri Lanka, and I've been increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped between the warring government forces and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka with no means of escape, little access to food, water, shelter and medicine. This has led to widespread suffering and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.”“Without urgent action, this humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe. Now is the time, I believe, to put aside some of the political issues that are involved and to put the lives of the men and women and children who are innocently caught in the crossfire, to put them first.”“I'm also calling on the Sri Lankan government to take several steps to alleviate this humanitarian crisis. First, the government should stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several hospitals, and the government should live up to its commitment to not use heavy weapons in the conflict zone.”“Second, the government should give United Nations humanitarian teams access to the civilians who are trapped between the warring parties so that they can receive the immediate assistance necessary to save lives.”“I don't believe that we can delay. Now is the time for all of us to work together to avert further humanitarian suffering.”
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband meanwhile called the conflict zone “as close to hell as you can get”.
A Vice Ministerial Troika from the European Union (EU) visited Sri Lanka and visited the Menik Farm camp where tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were being detained.
Though a statement said the EU is “deeply concerned about the high number of civilian casualties and deteriorating humanitarian situation in Northern Sri Lanka and reiterates its primary concern for the civilians in the conflict zone who are surviving under appalling conditions,” it went on to state,
“The EU recognises that the current crisis is approaching a final phase with the defeat of the LTTE militarily. The EU acknowledges the efforts and welcomes the commitments made by the Government in assisting its citizens that have escaped the conflict zone.”
See the full statement here.
