By: Latoyia Kimbrough
According to an article found on BBC the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that government doctors working in Sri Lanka, the remaining area of fighting, are "worn out". They say they do not have enough supplies to treat the hundreds and thousands of injured people that are there. The agency says it wants to help people escape by land but they have yet to be given access. It is estimated that up to 100,000 Tamil civilians are trapped in the tiny region where Tamil Tiger rebels still fight the army. The government is has not given the ICRC access to the landward side of the region so it can only evacuate people by sea. They use two or three ships per week carrying anywhere from 400 or 500 of the sickest, oldest and most badly wounded people. The ICRC country chief, Paul Castella told BBC that "the situation there is very difficult. The makeshift health facilities that still exist are not immune of the effects of the hostilities. The Ministry of Health staff still working there is really worn out - these people are working for months now without any break, they work day and night. And medical supplies are lacking". The ICRC has evacuated over 10,000 civilians since early February but they can not give figures on the number of people recently killed or ones that manage to escape by land. Britain has sent former Defense Secretary Des Browne, who is the designated representative for Sri Lanka, to UN headquarters for urgent deliberations on the situation taking place on the island.
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