Let us visit the IDPs – UNP

The UNP yesterday questioned why the government continues to invite foreign dignitaries to visit the IDPs in the north, but does not allow the democratically elected members of the Opposition of Sri Lanka to visit the camps in the Wanni and Mannar.
“The government has invited the Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader of Tamil Nadu state government to see the state of the IDPs who have taken refuge in government controlled areas,” UNP MP and Additional Secretary of Human Rights Jayalath Jayawardana said, “But, despite four requests made to defence officials to let members of the opposition to visit the IDPs and provide our support with essential items and assistance, we have not even been provided with a courtesy of a reply.”
Stating that the current situation faced by the hundreds of thousand civilians who have fled the LTTE to find refuge in government camps in the Wanni and Mannar is regrettable, he added that the Government Medical Officers’ Association had made a comment that there aren’t sufficient doctors and medical officers in the area to tend to the wounded and the sick. “The government knew that they would be faced with this exodus of people fleeing the terrorists, but they didn’t prepare themselves for it. The humanitarian situation faced by the IDPs now, is not different to the one they faced under the LTTE.”
“There is a dire need for humanitarian assistance and since the government was not prepared to meet this responsibility, the NGOs, civil organisations and political parties along with the people of the south are rallying to provide it,” he said. Adding that the UNP will be collecting items to be sent to the IDPs in their main offices across the island, Jayawardene regretted that as the main opposition party, their request to visit the IDPs in the north have been continuously rejected.