Supported by Sri Lankan Tamil singer MIA, and other celebrities, Tamils collect medicines and food for Vanni Tamils in London.

Supported by Sri Lankan Tamil singer MIA, and other celebrities, Tamils collect medicines and food for Vanni Tamils in London.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sei-eEjy4g
35 million viewers for MIA's Paper Planes.
Four Hundred Tons of Medical Aid Sets Sail for Sri Lanka

British celebrities, MPs and health professionals gather for launch and signing ceremony in central London, Tuesday 31 March, 2009


Act Now 5
Act Now 5
March 27, 2009 - Press Dispensary - As a major humanitarian crisis unfolds in northern Sri Lanka, campaign group Act Now and a number of other charities are preparing to send 400 tons of food and medicine, to help the country’s internal refugees, on Tuesday 31 March, 2009. Supported by Sri Lankan singer MIA, plus other celebrities, MPs and MEPs, the mission will provide desperately needed medical supplies for thousands of sick and injured people, and raise awareness of the suffering of civilians trapped in the conflict zone.

According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, bombing and shelling by the Sri Lanka Armed Forces in the so called safe zone has killed 2,800 Tamil civilians and left 7,000 more injured since the beginning of 2009. Furthermore, the UN and aid agencies have been denied access to the region, leaving many without adequate food, water or medical assistance. Agencies fear that the cramped conditions and lack of sanitation will lead to outbreaks of malaria, dengue fever and measles.

Dr T. Varatharaja, a senior Sri Lankan health official in the region where the conflict is taking place, says that the last major medical facility in Tamil-held territory has almost stopped functioning due to a medicine shortage. Surgeons already have to perform operations including amputations without anaesthetics, but the closure of the hospital would put the lives of thousands of sick and injured people at risk.

The Act Now supported mission will deliver a wide range of medicines, from pain-killers, antibiotics and anaesthetic drugs and food supplies to the designated 'Safe-Zone' in northern Sri Lanka, where a quarter of a million people are trapped by the fighting. A professional medical team hopes to join the mission at some point. The supplies are being donated at various collection centres throughout London* and from other British cities, and the trip is being funded by the generosity of British supporters.

Graham Williamson, a director of Act Now, says: “The international community is turning a blind eye to the escalating crisis in Sri Lanka, a war not so different to Vietnam, as innocent Tamil civilians and their schools, temples, refugee camps and hospitals are bombed, in what many human rights groups are calling a form of ethnic cleansing.”

“Now, the Sri Lankan Government is withholding food, water and medicine as a weapon of war against the Tamils. The Act Now boat will bring life saving supplies into the region, but our work doesn’t stop there, we will continue to call attention to the situation in Sri Lanka until this war against its own civilians is stopped.”

The first leg of the journey is planned to leave the UK on Tuesday 31 March, 2009, bound for the 'safe-zone' in northern Sri Lanka.


The launch event will take place on Tuesday 31 March, 2009, from 1:00pm at The Royal Horse Guards, 1 Whitehall Place, 2 Whitehall Court, London SW1A 2EJ. To view, please visit http://www.theroyalhorseguards.co.uk/index.html).

A global appeal to the Sri Lankan Government to let the aid into the affected region and to call a ceasefire will be launched on the same day. A launch event has been organised to allow celebrities and politicians to sign a special letter (scroll) of appeal. This mission is supported by Grammy and Academy nominated singer M.I.A.

A celebrity committee will be held under the leadership of British models, Jade Parfitt and Jasmine Guinness.

Invited guests are, Claudia Schiffer, Pixie Geldof, Alexa Chung, Daisy Lowe, Nicholas Holts, Fearne Cotton (BBC presenter), Lilly Cole (Storm), Denise Van Outen (singer and presenter), Jodie Kidd (model), Lilly Allen (singer), Duffy (singer), Dawn Porter, Sian Evans (singer of Kosheen), Alex Parks and more. Some guests have already confirmed.

Members of the media wishing to take pictures/film of the event should contact Act Now ASAP.

- Ends -
Notes for editors
Act Now is a UK based organisation set up by a group of British former humanitarian aid workers. Act Now has set up campaign groups across the UK working to lobby their MPs. It currently has the support of 45 MPs and a number of Members of the European Parliament.

Act Now is working with a number of charities, including White Pigeon, Tamil Health Organisation, Tamil Aid, Technical Association of Tamils and the Tamil Support Foundation, to send the medical and food supplies to Sri Lanka.

* A list of collection sites can obtained by request, it includes addresses in Edmonton, Ilford, East Ham, Lewisham, Bromley and Woolwich.
For further information, please contact:
Tim Martin, director, Act Now
Tel: 07817 504227
Email: info.actnow@gmail.com
Site: www.act-now.info

Graham Williamson, director, Act Now
Tel: 07970455445
Email: info.actnow@gmail.com
Site: http://www.act-now.info