[AFP]

The 37-year conflict raging in Sri Lanka was borne out of “repressive” governments in Colombo, Canadian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs said Thursday. “I am sure all Canadians share the government’s revulsion at the continuing humanitarian catastrophe in Sri Lanka, a civil conflict born of a succession of repressive Sri Lankan governments, which in turn spawned the terrorist organization known as the Tamil Tigers,” Kent told the House of Commons.

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[Human Rights Watch]

A humanitarian evacuation of civilians is desperately needed right now. Sri Lanka should urgently work with concerned governments to help civilians flee the fighting. Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.(New York) - The Sri Lankan government and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) should immediately agree to a plan of action to allow civilians trapped in the Vanni to leave the conflict area, Human Rights Watch said today. Some 150,000 civilians are at grave risk from fighting and aid shortages in the shrinking war zone in northeast Sri Lanka.

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[BBC]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned of an impending humanitarian catastrophe in north-eastern Sri Lanka. Up to 150,000 people may be trapped in the area by fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels. The ICRC has reiterated calls for a mass evacuation of civilians and for far more aid to be allowed in. The ICRC’s Jacques de Maio said the situation was one of the worst disasters he had experienced.

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[AP]

The assailants broke in after the fighting between ethnic rebels and the military erupted again into full-scale war, storming through his family’s home and calling his name. Thanabalasingham Surendran, a member of Sri Lanka’s Tamil ethnic minority, fled to the capital, Colombo. But unknown “messengers from military intelligence” kept calling and demanding extortion money. So the shop owner paid a smuggler to get him out of Sri Lanka. As the government claims it is coming close to winning a quarter-century war with the Tamil Tiger separatists, many ordinary Tamils are giving up on their country.

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[Pakistan Daily]

In a July 2008 interview with Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, Major General Mohammad Farooq, Director General of the Defense Export Promotion Organization, claimed that Pakistan’s defense exports have tripled to around USD 300 million because of the quality of its ammunition, anti-tank guided missiles, rocket launchers and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. It has been reported that Sri Lanka has purchased cluster bombs, deep penetration bombs and rockets and UAVs from Pakistan.

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[Doctors Without Borders]

As heavy fighting continues in northern Sri Lanka, over 200,000 civilians remain trapped in the conflict in the Vanni region. But, over the past few weeks, some 35,000 people have managed to flee to the city of Vavuniya, 80 km south of the conflict zone. They tell of a beleaguered population living under constant threat of shelling and surrounded by the bodies of the dead and wounded. Food and drinking water are scare, and there is almost no access to medical care. Here are some of their stories.

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[BBC]

The Sri Lankan government has rejected fresh calls for a temporary ceasefire with Tamil Tiger rebels. Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told the BBC that if the rebels laid down their arms there would be no need for a halt in the fighting. Reports of growing civilian casualties have prompted the UN, European Union and India to urge a ceasefire. In a briefing to the UN Security Council a few days ago, its humanitarian chief, Sir John Holmes, said the restrictions on the movement of civilians into and out of the camps were unacceptable.

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[Los Angeles Times]

Echoing a global debate over the balance between human rights and the fight against militants, some suspect that paramilitary forces or others closely associated with the government may have played a role in the attacks.Critics charge that the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, which came to power espousing human rights and benefits for the downtrodden, appears outright hostile to journalists who don’t toe the government line, contributing to a climate of fear. Anyone who speaks out against the government is accused of demoralizing the troops, being a traitor or supporting the Tigers, said Lal Wickrematunge, chairman of the Sunday Leader, sitting at his desk beside a picture of his slain brother.

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[AFP]

Thousands of Tamils marched in Paris on Saturday to denounce what they termed the Sri Lankan government’s genocide of the island’s ethnic minority in its bid to wipe out Tamil Tiger rebels. Police put the number of marchers at 2,500 while organisers said some 3,000 participated in the demonstration. The marchers shouted slogans such “EU impose a truce”, and “The Sri Lankan president is a murderer”, and “Stop the Tamil genocide”.

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