Sphere standards at internally displaced persons (IDO) camps in northern Sri Lanka are being undermined due to overcrowding, say aid workers.
The Sphere Project, a collaboration of international NGOs and the Red Cross Movement to improve the quality of disaster response, outlines best practices in food aid, nutrition, health, water and sanitation and emergency shelter provision.
“We are missing Sphere standards by a long way, particularly in the WASH [water, sanitation and hygiene] cluster,” David White, Oxfam’s country director in Colombo, told IRIN, citing instances where some people were going without water for washing for up to three days.
“We’re not even close,” said another international aid worker. “With the monsoon rains, it’s going to get worse,” he warned.
Close to 300,000 people now languish in 30 government camps in Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee districts, after fleeing fighting between government forces and the now defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland for more than two decades.
Many of the camps - which were hastily erected in the final days of the war after thousands fled south from former LTTE-controlled areas - suffer from severe overcrowding.
Most are located in and around the town of Vavuniya – the epicentre of one of the island nation’s worst levels of displacement ever.
“Many of the camps now exceed their planned capacity,” confirmed one international aid worker in Vavuniya.
Of the 246,000 IDPs in Vavuniya, more than 200,000 now stay in Menik Farm - a sprawling 809ha site about 50km outside the town, comprised of six separate zones and easily the most overcrowded.
This despite the fact that a large percentage of them actually have families in the area they could stay with.
Decongestion
Decongestion is now taking on an even greater sense of urgency.
“The issue has been recognized by the government already in late May during the UN Secretary-General’s visit, as reflected in the joint statement made by President Rajapakse and [Ban Ki-moon], and work is ongoing to resettle people as well as to permit vulnerable people to leave,” Neil Buhne, the UN resident representative in Colombo, said.
“Concerns about security are recognized by everyone, but from all my discussions with everyone involved with the camps – from government to UN to NGOs, everyone also recognizes that the sooner people can get back to their homes or with host families, the better."
“UNHCR [the UN Refugee Agency] and its shelter partners are supporting the government’s decongestion efforts to ensure that the conditions in the emergency shelter sites reach international standards,” said Elizabeth Tan, officer-in-charge for UNHCR Sri Lanka, which is working with the government to prepare the site as best as possible to withstand the upcoming monsoon season.
More than three months since the conflict ended, Zone two of Menik Farm continues to hold close to 55,000 - almost double its planned capacity.
“If those zones had the amount of people they were built for, we would be a lot closer to Sphere standards,” Oxfam’s White said.
In fact, in some parts of Menik Farm, a single latrine caters to up to 80 people [Sphere standards call for 20], while some tents designed for five were accommodating up to 14.
Yet according to Buhne, how close or how far Sphere standards could be met depended on the sector, as well as the location within the camps.
“Some of newly established small areas are close to or even meet some standards, while in the larger, longer-established sites there is more work to be done,” he said.
“Camp conditions were gradually stabilizing until mid-August,” he said, citing government efforts and those of international agencies since the last influx in late May.
"Schools [and] health clinics had been or were being established; access to water and sanitation had improved and most people now had the calorie intake they needed,” he said.
Even so, significant challenges persist, highlighted and accentuated by the recent rains, he said.
“Last week’s rains were a warning for us. We have to act and act soon,” said an aid worker.
Set to arrive within a matter of weeks, the monsoon will sorely test the ability of the authorities and the aid community to cope.
“The international community is watching. We can’t pretend we didn’t know it was coming,” she said, explaining that even if you took 50,000 people out of the camps tomorrow, once the monsoon arrives the camps would no longer be viable.
"The clock is now ticking," she said.
contributor/ds/mw
The Sphere Project, a collaboration of international NGOs and the Red Cross Movement to improve the quality of disaster response, outlines best practices in food aid, nutrition, health, water and sanitation and emergency shelter provision.
“We are missing Sphere standards by a long way, particularly in the WASH [water, sanitation and hygiene] cluster,” David White, Oxfam’s country director in Colombo, told IRIN, citing instances where some people were going without water for washing for up to three days.
“We’re not even close,” said another international aid worker. “With the monsoon rains, it’s going to get worse,” he warned.
Close to 300,000 people now languish in 30 government camps in Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee districts, after fleeing fighting between government forces and the now defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland for more than two decades.
Many of the camps - which were hastily erected in the final days of the war after thousands fled south from former LTTE-controlled areas - suffer from severe overcrowding.
Most are located in and around the town of Vavuniya – the epicentre of one of the island nation’s worst levels of displacement ever.
“Many of the camps now exceed their planned capacity,” confirmed one international aid worker in Vavuniya.
Of the 246,000 IDPs in Vavuniya, more than 200,000 now stay in Menik Farm - a sprawling 809ha site about 50km outside the town, comprised of six separate zones and easily the most overcrowded.
This despite the fact that a large percentage of them actually have families in the area they could stay with.
Photo: Contributor/IRIN  |
| An example of washing water some residents have had to use |
Decongestion is now taking on an even greater sense of urgency.
“The issue has been recognized by the government already in late May during the UN Secretary-General’s visit, as reflected in the joint statement made by President Rajapakse and [Ban Ki-moon], and work is ongoing to resettle people as well as to permit vulnerable people to leave,” Neil Buhne, the UN resident representative in Colombo, said.
“Concerns about security are recognized by everyone, but from all my discussions with everyone involved with the camps – from government to UN to NGOs, everyone also recognizes that the sooner people can get back to their homes or with host families, the better."
“UNHCR [the UN Refugee Agency] and its shelter partners are supporting the government’s decongestion efforts to ensure that the conditions in the emergency shelter sites reach international standards,” said Elizabeth Tan, officer-in-charge for UNHCR Sri Lanka, which is working with the government to prepare the site as best as possible to withstand the upcoming monsoon season.
More than three months since the conflict ended, Zone two of Menik Farm continues to hold close to 55,000 - almost double its planned capacity.
“If those zones had the amount of people they were built for, we would be a lot closer to Sphere standards,” Oxfam’s White said.
In fact, in some parts of Menik Farm, a single latrine caters to up to 80 people [Sphere standards call for 20], while some tents designed for five were accommodating up to 14.
Yet according to Buhne, how close or how far Sphere standards could be met depended on the sector, as well as the location within the camps.
“Some of newly established small areas are close to or even meet some standards, while in the larger, longer-established sites there is more work to be done,” he said.
|
Photo: Contributor/IRIN |
| Upcoming monsoon rains are a serious source of concern |
"Schools [and] health clinics had been or were being established; access to water and sanitation had improved and most people now had the calorie intake they needed,” he said.
Even so, significant challenges persist, highlighted and accentuated by the recent rains, he said.
“Last week’s rains were a warning for us. We have to act and act soon,” said an aid worker.
Set to arrive within a matter of weeks, the monsoon will sorely test the ability of the authorities and the aid community to cope.
“The international community is watching. We can’t pretend we didn’t know it was coming,” she said, explaining that even if you took 50,000 people out of the camps tomorrow, once the monsoon arrives the camps would no longer be viable.
"The clock is now ticking," she said.
contributor/ds/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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