Letters & Speeches
Remarks by U.S. Ambassador Robert Blake at the Food Relief Donation Ceremony
January 27, 2009, World Food Program Logistic Hub, Wellampitiya
Minister Bathiudeen, Secretary Kumarasiri, Mr. Khan, guests, staff, and friends,
I am very pleased to be here today to represent the people and the Government of the United States of America at this ceremony. We have come together to demonstrate our continued concern for the welfare of those Sri Lankans who have been displaced and trapped by fighting in the North and desperately need all of our combined help to provide emergency relief during this difficult time.
Today the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, is officially handing over our most recent donation of food relief. You may notice that the warehouse looks fairly empty. That is a tribute to the success of the World Food Program and the Government in moving much of the food out of this location to warehouses closer to the conflict area so it can be distributed to the men, women, and children affected by the conflict who depend on that assistance.
Our contribution today is valued at US$6.9 million or 785 million rupees of food aid. It includes 1,344 tons of lentils, 779 tons of vegetable oil, and 4,270 tons of wheat. This is part of the $29 million in food assistance that the U.S. provided in our Fiscal Year 2008 to the people of the North.
Ladies and gentlemen, the conditions for the brave and dedicated UN and other personnel who deliver and distribute this food and other emergency relief are increasingly perilous, but it is important they be allowed to continue their vital work. Last week, a UN food convoy was trapped for several days in the north, caught up in the fighting between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Army. It was especially unfortunate that the LTTE refused to allow UN national staff and dependents to return from the Vanni with the UN convoy when the Government allowed it to leave.
Likewise, the more than 230,000 internally displaced persons trapped by fighting in the north face great danger. As the fighting gets closer to the no-fire zone established by the Government in the north, both sides must take special care now to protect civilians.
The LTTE leadership must live up to its obligations under international humanitarian law to allow those trapped by fighting freedom of movement so they can escape the fighting. And both sides must exercise maximum restraint to ensure civilians are not caught in crossfire. Many civilians have been killed in recent days due to artillery exchanges.
The LTTE must immediately desist from firing heavy weapons from areas within or near civilian concentrations. The Government must also resist the temptation to launch retaliatory shelling into areas populated by civilians.
There is much work to be done to assist civilians affected by the conflict. We can only make progress by working together. I want to thank the World Food Program for its outstanding work, ensuring that the most vulnerable in Sri Lanka receive the aid necessary to endure this struggle.
I also want to thank the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, and the Ministry of Nation Building, for all your efforts to reach citizens in need and provide the services they require.