Sri Lanka bars foreign aid workers from rebel area

Sri Lanka bars foreign aid workers from rebel area

By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer Mon Sep 8, 10:55 AM ET

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The Sri Lankan government said Monday it is barring all foreign aid workers and many local staff from rebel-held areas in the north because of the raging civil war there.
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The decision came as the government stepped up its offensive aimed at crushing the Tamil Tiger rebel group and capturing its de facto state after a quarter century of civil war.

With the fighting escalating, aid groups have expressed concern for the welfare of the tens of thousands of civilians who have fled their homes near the front lines in recent weeks and moved deeper into rebel territory.

Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said Monday the government decided to order all foreign aid workers from the territory under rebel control for their own protection.

"We can't assure the security of these people," Rajapaksa told The Associated Press. "We are taking precautions."

The impact the announcement will have on aid work in the impoverished and war-torn areas of the north was not immediately clear. The United Nations and the U.S. government declined to comment, and officials from international aid groups said they were working on a coordinated response.

The U.N. estimates that between 70,000 and 85,000 people have fled their homes because of the marked rise in fighting in recent weeks, bringing the total number of displaced civilians there to 160,000.

Aid workers say thousands are receiving food and shelter from international aid groups.

According to a notice sent to aid groups Monday, no foreign aid workers will be allowed to pass the Omanthai checkpoint that serves as the entry point to rebel territory. Foreigners already inside — as well as local workers who are not permanent residents of the area — must leave, according to the notice.

Aid groups were also ordered to remove their vehicles, equipment and machinery from rebel territory immediately.

Rajapaksa said he was trying to avoid a repeat of the 2006 massacre of 17 local aid workers for the French agency Action Against Hunger in the eastern town of Muttur that followed a fierce battle between troops and rebel fighters.

European monitors blamed security forces for those killings, while the government blamed the rebels.

"We don't want to get into a situation like that, so we are giving (the aid groups) adequate notice," Rajapaksa said.

The written order, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, does not make an exception for U.N. aid workers. However, Rajapaksa said that while U.N. workers would be forced to move out of Tamil Tiger-controlled areas, they would be allowed to return briefly to accompany aid shipments.

The rebels have been fighting for an independent state in the north and east since 1983, following decades of marginalization of ethnic Tamils by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.