Obama calls for urgent action to avoid catastrophe in SL
President Barack Obama said "urgent action" is needed to keep a humanitarian crisis there from becoming a catastrophe he said he is "increasingly saddened" by continued violence in Sri Lanka.
President Barack Obama has urged Sri Lanka to stop "indiscriminate shelling" of civilians and pressed the Tamil Tiger rebels to surrender to avoid humanitarian catastrophe. "Without urgent action, this humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe," Mr Obama warned.
In his remarks outside the White House, Mr Obama acknowledged that with all the big issues going on, Sri Lanka hasn't received much attention.
He called on Sri Lankan government to take a number of steps to address the strife. He said first the government should stop indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several (in) hospitals and live up to its commitment not to use heavy weapons. He said the government should give the United Nations access to suffering civilians in harms way, and give the UN and Red Cross access to nearly 190,000 displaced people in Sri Lanka.
"The United States stands ready to work with the international community to support the people of Sri Lanka in this time of suffering," Obama said. "I don't believe that we can delay. Now is the time for all of us to work."
"Going forward, Sri Lanka must seek a peace that is secure and lasting and grounded in respect for all of its citizens," he said.
"More civilian casualties and inadequate care for those caught in resettlement camps will only make it more difficult to achieve the peace that the people of Sri Lanka deserve."
Dozens of civilians trapped in the conflict zone in northeast Sri Lanka were reported killed in shelling on Wednesday.
Read the full text of the statement:
THE WHITE HOUSEOffice of the Press Secretary_______________________________________________________For Immediate Release May 13, 2009STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENTON THE SITUATION IN SRI LANKAAND DETAINEE PHOTOGRAPHSSouth Drive4:12 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Sorry to keep you guys waiting. Good to see you. I want to take a few moments at the top to talk about something that, with all the big issues going on, hasn't received much attention, but I think is worth talking about briefly.As some of you know, we have a humanitarian crisis that's taking place in Sri Lanka, and I've been increasingly saddened by the desperate news in recent days. Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped between the warring government forces and the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka with no means of escape, little access to food, water, shelter and medicine. This has led to widespread suffering and the loss of hundreds if not thousands of lives.Without urgent action, this humanitarian crisis could turn into a catastrophe. Now is the time, I believe, to put aside some of the political issues that are involved and to put the lives of the men and women and children who are innocently caught in the crossfire, to put them first.So I urge the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms and let civilians go. Their forced recruitment of civilians and their use of civilians as human shields is deplorable. These tactics will only serve to alienate all those who carry them out.I'm also calling on the Sri Lankan government to take several steps to alleviate this humanitarian crisis. First, the government should stop the indiscriminate shelling that has taken hundreds of innocent lives, including several hospitals, and the government should live up to its commitment to not use heavy weapons in the conflict zone.Second, the government should give United Nations humanitarian teams access to the civilians who are trapped between the warring parties so that they can receive the immediate assistance necessary to save lives.Third, the government should also allow the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross access to nearly 190,000 displaced people within Sri Lanka so that they can receive additional support that they need.The United States stands ready to work with the international community to support the people of Sri Lanka in this time of suffering. I don't believe that we can delay. Now is the time for all of us to work together to avert further humanitarian suffering.Going forward, Sri Lanka must seek a peace that is secure and lasting, and grounded in respect for all of its citizens. More civilian casualties and inadequate care for those caught in resettlement camps will only make it more difficult to achieve the peace that the people of Sri Lanka deserve.News edited by Tamilnational [ editor@tamilnational.com]
