idp camps 2009: humanitarian work in midst of propaganda war / by dr. michael roberts
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Workshop at FINS, Gangarama, producing artificial limbs
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Tamil IDP amputees await attention from FINS mobile teams at Manik
Farm during one of ten mobile camps that serviced IDPs in the period
8 July 2009 to March 2010
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Suresh of FINS at work shaping a Jaipur Foot for individual needs
556 IDP amputees received limbs from FINS
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SEWALANKA cooked 550,000 packets of food between 17-24 May 2009
at Omanthai
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points
** My Coverage is not comprehensive .
** many NGOs, INGOs and UN agencies involved** . and considerable private enterprise
** missing dimension = views and experiences of
the IDP inmates themselves
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President
Pirapaharanand the
Balasinghams
head forpodium at
Media Event
at
Kilinochchi,
April 2002
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Anton & Prabha field
media questions atKili
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PirapaharansParental home in Valvittathurai,
Nov. 2004-- Pic by Roberts
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THAMILLAM 1995/96 to May 2009** .including 80-100,000 residents of Jaffna Peninsula who
migrated there in 1995/96
** total Population = ?? Perhaps350,000?
** working backwards from figure of 320-330,000entrapped in November 2008 add those in Madhu, Mannarand Pooneryn localities who escaped entrapment. And you
will gain an approximate figure
** the critical point is that very few outside Thamillamhad
definite figures
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Makkal Padaicivilian militia in training in
THAMILLAM . circa 2002-07
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More militia at training images follow
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from circa April 2008 the citizens of Thamillam
faced
multiple displacements [ahead of the battle till January 2009]
served as a conscript a& labour pool
And as space got constricted became So many protective sandbags .
.. a political bargaining chip
Informed by the mid-May deadline [Indian General
Elections] that guided both warring parties Thus,
eventually to the crisis of the Last Redoubt on the
seaside of Nandikadal in April-May 2009
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Last LTTE redoubt on shoreline: a tent city in part pic from Darusman report
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UAV Image of Scene in Last Redoubtprobably earlyApril courtesy of Victor Ivan
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The Tamil death toll in early 2009: a
misleading count by Rohan Gunaratna
23 November 2011, 6:13 am
by Michael Roberts
.. SEE http://transcurrents.com/news-views/archives/6285
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Must focus on the survivors IDP civilians [includinghidden LTTE personnel]
BUT set within previous context
** their dual citizen status
** their political sentiments & commitments
** the degenerated, dehydrated, exhausted
condition of most of them
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Residences in the Last Redoubt
Late May aerial view of one scene in former Last Redoubt taken by the
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Late May aerial view of one scene in former Last Redoubttaken by the
Times cameramanwith Ban Ki-Moon see series in
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626922360092/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626922360092/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626922360092/ -
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One image can be misleading. One must view all the pictures
in the Times seriesand then supplement it with the on-
ground images at the Last Redoubt taken byKanchan Prasad on 14-18 May 2012
examples of which follow but are inadequate on their own
so, see
Indian Reporter Pics at NFZ-14-to-18 May 2009 =
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/721576267978
05167/
Mullivaikkal Hospital in NFZ Last Redoubthttp://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/721576267978
48747/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626797805167/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626797805167/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626797848747/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626797848747/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626797848747/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626797848747/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626797805167/http://www.flickr.com/photos/thuppahi/sets/72157626797805167/ -
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LTTE hospital with Muralidhar Reddy outside mid May 2009
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People streaming & struggling out of the Last
Redoubt late April or Mid-May 2009
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Th t th i t d b YATAWARA i th
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The next three images were presented by YATAWARA in the
S-Observer of 17thMay 2009 so presumably depict scenes
from the May cluster of some 80,000 IDPs
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Distress plus resilience . Pics by Kanchan Prasad at Last
Redoubt mid-May
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On a starvation diet one presumes . the survivors
were HUNGRY
HOW MANY IDPs ere embraced b the GSL in
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HOW MANY IDPs were embraced by the GSL intheir segregation centres?
Lets work backwards
A. 295, 873 persons at peak a/c to Rav Aryasinha in
Geneva recently plus 12,000 LTTE rehabilitees [orare the latter within the total?]
B. 265, 693 a/c Resettlement figures releasedon 31 May 2012 = 10,916 from JP sites
237,057 from V, T and Mannar sites
27,720 humanitarian releases
C. 268,241 a/c UN Situation reports 7 Aug 2009made up of 10,861 JP; 1453 Mannar; 6816 Trinco; and
246, 241 Vavuniya
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So, our focus today is on the 246,00 odd who were
placed in the segregation-centres in Vavuniya .
centres with a welfare cum humanitarian touch
Note that Zone 0 (Kadirgamar) had been set up as
early as late 2008 under combined military/civilian
administration and that IDPs were brought in
driblets from that moment so that the best
accommodation appears to have been in Zone Zero
The two big influxes were: c. 103,000in late April;
c. 80,000 in mid-late May
* ..whileZones 1,2, 3 and 4 were being set up on the run
GSLs reasons for segregating the IDPS in my SURMISE
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GSL s reasons for segregating the IDPS in my SURMISE
1. Protecting own skin from suicide bombers (s/b)
2. Preventing generalized outrage attacks from s/b
that wd spoil sense of triumph.
3. Need to weed out hidden Tigers.
4. Influence of a control philosophy.5. Preventing chaos arising from Tamils without IDs
moving around the country and
6. endangering themselves by wandering in theVanni war zone with its unexploded ordinance and
mines a zone where the Army was still seeking
hidden caches of weaponry.
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That said as conjecture, the fact remains that the
GSL public relationsand clarifications were
terrible . And exacerbated by the security blanket
thrown around the camps
A failure harmful to self
In consequence even the literati in Colombo were
not aware of significant NGO and INGO involvement
in providing services in the camps
While NGOs who were shut out perpetuated tales
of closure.
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* As its is, the aim of weeding out Tigers had limited
success, news reports indicate some were pointed
out by other inmates [I have no specific figures]
BUT both Tigers and Tamil rich slipped out of the
camps with the help of bribes, corrupt officials, the
Tamil para-military groups in Vavuniya, undercover
LTTE intelligence agents and people-smuggling
entrepreneurs [see Sunday Times Insight Team article of
6 September 2009]1000-2000 .. a/c Fr Rohan Silva
8,000-10,000 . a/c T. Sridharan of EPRLF
20,000 a/c PK Balachandran and news reporters
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GSLs reasoning is one arena BUT I would like to
tack our ship to the other shore: namely, thereasoning of the varied humanitarian agencies who
joined the Govt agencies in delivering aid to the
IDPs to their grounded world view.
Working within the limits of GSL determinations,
they focused on the humanitarian needs of the
people .
. to them the IDPs = humans
to them the IDPs = Sri Lankans . not citizens of
Thamillam
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This seminar is an act of HOMAGE
.. To all these agencies and
individuals who serviced a portion of
Sri Lankan mankind emerging from a
strife-torn situation, citizens ofThamillam..
who had been rendered, analytically
speaking, into ex-citizens of Thamillamand were thus in limbo
The PROCESS of IDP movement and reception:
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The PROCESS of IDP movement and reception:
A. Basic sorting, counting & feeding at rear of
battlefront.
B. Transportation logistics from Vanni NE to Vavuniya.
C. Placement in school camps or Zonal campswith
former eventually being moved to the Zones
C/D. servicing, helping and administering each one
of these camps.
some of which were set up on the run creatinginevitable confusion and problems at the outset
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ZONE ZeroApril 2009: Pix by Manori Unambuwe
Creating Camps 1 2 3 4 from scratch Late April
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Creating Camps 1-2-3-4 from scratch Late April2009 onwards a planning meeting pix by Donnie
Woodyard
O b li h fi ld h i l i i
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One parabolic hangar field hospital coming into
being, late Aprilpix by Donnie Woodyard
Open air Medical Clinics late April early May 2009:
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Open-air Medical Clinics, late April-early May 2009:Pix by Donnie Woodyard
Fi ld H it l i f iti J l 2009 Pi b
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Field Hospitals in fruition, July 2009 -- Pix byMin-Health
School Camp & one new Zonal Camp Pix by
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School Camp & one new Zonal Camp -- Pix byConstantine, a Tamil moderate
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I d l d b
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Images deployed by
Dixon (right) & Rohini
Hensman(left) inadverse reports from
abroad
Joint military & civilian adminwith military in command
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y y
Regular coordination meetings with NGO,s INGOs UN etc
WFP provided basic food items [five]
Community kitchens run by IDP inmates using equipmentsupplied by various agencies
Initial confusion at some points
Water supply was a major problem for long
Horrible sanitary conditions in toilet areas exacerbatedby poor toilet designs, inadequate number of toilets and
cultural preferences for open spaces
Island-wide propensity of Lankans to generatejaraa
Some tents were unsuitable
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Let me concentrate on the MEDICAL RELIEF that was
provide in the Vavuniya Camps .
Min-Healths Disaster Relief team was diverted to
coordinate rostering and transport of all the med-
personnel, drugs and other supplies
Experienced teamHerath, Kottegoda, Ranasinghe
8 senior doctors assigned to the camps were
supported by 35 post-intern doctors [3 Muslim, 2
Tamil, rest Sinhala] sent to Vavuniya in late April to
work in the Camps
The parabolic hangar field hospitals were set up
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The parabolic hangar field hospitals were set up
quickly and once floors were laid with concrete &
fully kitted-up proved to be a wonderful facility
better than SLs divisional hospitals in the opinion ofSafras
But note that INITIALLY there were long queues of
patients doctors were treating 5000 per day a/c Woodyard
Some inmates were in such a poor state that at the
outset a few dropped dead in the queue every day and Woodyard reckoned conditions had improved
when none did so a few days down the track.
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Daily death data in Menik Farm in mid 2009 (Source: Ministry of
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Health, Sri Lanka).http://www.sangam.org/2009/11/Health_Report.php?print=true.
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The Sinhala speaking doctors were assisted by
translators from within the IDP population till those
doctors who stayed on acquired working knowledgeof Tamil
The medical teams had to cope with outbreaks of
dysentery, hepatitis and chicken-pox that hit bothinmates and security staff
At one point rapid work on stool samples by the
MRI enabled the medical team to identify thebacteria causing dysenteryand to combat the
outbreak through an appropriate drug
The medical care of the IDPs pursued by these doctors
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p y
and nurses was assisted by the fortitude, skill and
selfless help of personnel from within the IDPs, many of
them trained by the LTTE as medicsHERATH stresses this in a Note to Roberts (15 Sept 2012):
Once they were identified, their salaries were paid by the
appropriate authorities. Most of them helped the areaswhere they used to work (nurses and midwives in hospitals
and public health services, teachers in schools). There was a
zonal education director who worked with us [medical
teams] very closely. Most of the psychosocial activities wecarried out were facilitated by him. However, the majority of
them were those in the lower strata of the government
services.
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Herath emphasised the importance of their services:
these IDPs were the ones who ensured the
continuity of services. In fact they were the
people who looked after the camps during night asoutsiders(except doctors and nurses who did
night work) were not allowed, and even the
movement of the Police was restricted to the gates,
sentry points and patrol under supervision (to leave
no room for unwanted allegations).
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At the outset, in April-May 2009, the GSLauthorities were fearful of basing the doctors within
the campsa significant point this. However, by WHEN precisely? early July if not
earlier the interrelations between the helpingprofessions security personnel and IDP inmates wasaltogether amiable
Myrna Setunga recorded her agreeable surprise atthe camaraderie between the police/army
personnel and the IDPs .. The pictures that follow were taken in July by Min-
Health and Min-Education extracted by Myrna fromtheir files [fortunately]
Street theatre a strong Tamil tradition
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Street theatre a strong Tamil tradition
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Dr Herath with children Herath cut short work leave in UK andlocated himself at Apura from 8th May as operational head of the
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located himself at A purafrom 8 May as operational head of the
Med-disaster team
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Unlike the previous Pix this one is from the S-Observer of 10
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Unlike the previous Pix this one is from the S Observerof 10
May and is significant in revealing how quickly some
semblance of normality was created in some Zonal camps
Alas, I have no date for this picture
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Alas, I have no date for this picture
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