Trapped Sri Lankans ‘dying on makeshift hospital’.

Chelsea Frazier
Feb/15/09
The remaining survivors still trapped in the Tamil Tiger controlled land has dropped from estimates of 200,000 to barely 80,000 on Sunday. Many are dying in makeshift hospitals, which have become targets to the Tamil Tigers. Many are dying from the lack of proper medical supplies, while others die from grenades and gunfire from the Tigers. After pleading with both sides of the conflict, a spokesperson from the Red Cross convinced the government and the Tigers to let the survivors trapped in the hospitals out and to let more medical aid in. About 600 were evacuated on Tuesday and Thursday, but more wounded have come pouring into the camps in hopes of escape. Some humanitarians have raised a fuss over the living conditions of the remaining survivors, calling the makeshift camps “little better than prisons” which miffed off the government represented again by Nanayakkara, who retorted with the statement that they “… have no concentration camps: (The government has set up) accommodation in schools and abandoned buildings. They have barbed wire around them for the safety of the civilians. If the [Tamil Tigers] lob a hand grenade, a lot of people will be killed and we are responsible for their safety."
Both the Government and the Tamil Tigers have been accused of war crimes in this conflict.
On Saturday night, the army gained the upper hand in the fighting and trapped many of the Tigers in a 142 mile area and told the press that they had only two options left to them (the Tamil Tigers); to surrender or commit suicide.
I don’t know what to think of this, if it’s a good thing things are winding down or if the fighting should be looked at more closely. I don’t think people just randomly decide that they want to go to war. I don’t know much about this conflict; I really didn’t even know it was going on. Outside news casts aren’t allowed into the area and that makes me suspicious of what they (the government) are trying to hide from the eyes of the world.
But I’m a very mistrusting person anyways. I’ll let everyone know more about the orginal conflict in another post.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/15/sri-lanka-tamil-tigers