Sri Lankan refugee camps 'epidemic waiting to happen'
Disease outbreak in Tamil refugee camps in northern Sri Lanka is imminent, aid agencies warn
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Wednesday, 27, May 2009 05:48
A disease outbreak in Tamil refugee camps in northern Sri Lanka is imminent, aid agencies have warned.
Aid workers have told inthenews.co.uk that a week after the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, conditions in refugee camps remained desperately poor.
There are 30 refugees living in five-person tents, Christian Aid says, as the overcrowded camps struggle to contend with the influx of civilians entering the camps.
Robin Greenwood, director of the charity's Asia programme said the camps are "an epidemic waiting to happen"
"A combination of monsoon rains, poor drainage and overcrowding is the ideal breeding ground for diseases like cholera and typhoid," he said.
"I fear that a disease outbreak in northern Sri Lanka is imminent if the government does not tackle the problem of overcrowding and sanitation."
Colombo has already been told by several national governments at the United Nations that it must do more to ensure Tamil refugees receive humanitarian help to recover from a 26-year civil war.
This week the Sri Lankan authorities said they were aiming to maintain a state of emergency that included sweeping counterterrorism powers despite claiming victory over the Tamil Tigers.
UN calls for a war crimes probe into the conduct of both sides during the latter stages of the conflict are also yet to die down.