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Refugees plead with NGOs ‘Don't Leave, Don't Leave'

September 25, 2008

I am writing to call your attention to the devastating humanitarian crisis occurring in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Army is advancing into Tamil areas in the north, causing over 200,000 refugees to flee from the military onslaught.

On September 23, the BBC released a first-hand account from a foreign aid worker who witnessed the unraveling humanitarian crisis since foreign aid workers were banned from the region in early September. The aid worker wrote, "The sensation of the approaching doom was all too real with this kind of warfare... The [refugees] were hungry, tired, afraid and traumatized... Mothers were dealing with the raw emotion of just not being able to protect, feed and educate their families." The aid worker continues to describe narrowly escaping an aerial bombing and re-emerging from their bunker to witness "children shaking with fear and mothers trying to calm them while they themselves were shaking with fear." The full article is available here: 'Pain' of Sri Lanka aid pull out BBC 23 September 2008

In the capital, Colombo, over 100,000 Tamils were ordered to re-register with the police, prompting activists to decry the continuing harassment and discrimination against Tamils. As the war escalates and the repercussions are felt throughout Sri Lanka, the desperate pleas of refugees should not be left unheeded. I urge you to call upon the Sri Lankan government to allow the safe return of international aid organizations to northern region.