The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Sri Lanka
SRI LANKA Island nation in South Asia Home to approx. 20 million people 74% Sinhalese 18% Tamil (Sri Lankan & Indian origin) 8% Muslim
Long-standing civil war since 1983 De facto state in the Northeast under the LTTE LTTE now defunct; all territory under govt. control (as of May 2009)
Internally Displaced Persons Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are people forced to flee their homes but who, unlike refugees, remain within their country's borders United Nations report, Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement uses the definition: “internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border�
Current State of IDPs in Sri Lanka Focus on the current crisis 279,208 IDPs in 40 camps in the northern districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Trincomalee and Vavuniya1 120,000 are children; 55,000 are estimated to be under 10 years of age 44% of children severely malnourished As many as 5,000 children had limbs amputated from Jan-May 2009 2,000 vulnerable IDP children (orphans, unaccompanied minors, children separated from families); approx. 1,000 are now orphans2 1 United Nations, OCHA ‘ Sri Lanka: Vanni Emergency Situation Report #24, July 2, 2009’. 2 UNICEF, July 9 Report
Life in an IDP Camp Overcrowded Toilet to IDP ratio 1:100
3
Spread of communicable diseases Insufficient access to medical care, clean drinking water Improper drainage, sanitation & hygiene Lack of freedom of movement Separation from family members 3 IRIN article titled “Too many people” at huge IDP camp, June 11, 2009
Monsoon Season 2,000 makeshift shelters flooded by heavy rain last weekend 4 Wooden toilets washed away; damage to sewer lines and water treatment plants “Public Health Disaster waiting to happen”
4 IRIN article titled “Heavy rains compound IDP woes” August 17, 2009
Health Concerns As of mid-June: 1,060 cases of dysentery More than 5,000 cases of diarrhea More than 12,000 cases of chickenpox (declining) 2,139 cases of Hepatitis A (declining) 5 Malnutrition– particularly children and pregnant women 5 IRIN article titled “Rains raise fears of malaria setback” June 30, 2009
Current Needs of IDPs & Future Projects Emergency medication & hygiene kits Milk powder for children and pregnant mothers Psychosocial rehabilitation Nutrition Programs Ongoing mobile clinics: $1/patient Build more toilets and improve access to clean water Prosthesis Physical Rehabilitation: $85,000 physiotherapy unit in Mannar district Micro-credit programs for widows Empowerment projects
With generous donations, IMHO has sent over $500,000 to the IDP cause Projects that have benefited include: Emergency medical relief – medicines, hospital supplies, surgical materials Funding of healthcare workers within the camps $50/worker/month Temporary toilets - $320/toilet – to prevent epidemic of infectious disease Psychiatric care – emergency psychiatric medications, ongoing counseling, inpatient work Nutrition – food, milk powder Orphans Amputees – 30,000 amputees requiring artificial prosthetics ($250/prosthesis)
How your donations can help… Operating Cost of Primary Health Care Centers: $1 USD per patient $30 USD a month = 30 patients receive primary health care
Cost for Running Mobile Clinics $ 0.75 USD per patient visit
Sponsoring nutritional needs of a child $ 0.75 USD per day per child
Maternal Nutrition Project $ 100 USD per pregnancy
Supporting a Hemodialysis (HD) session $50 USD per HD session $20,000 USD per annum
Supporting a Child for Cardiac Surgery $3,000 USD per procedure
Incentive Allowance for Physicians to Work in Rural Areas $100 USD per physician/month
Supporting widows through microcredit programs $250 USD per mother
Donate Today Please make your tax-deductible donation today! Stop by one of our booths here tonight By Check Online Direct Debit Visit our website for more details:
www.TheIMHO.org
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!