Over 230,000 persons in an area of 35 sq km is a tight fit by any calculation. But that is the safest fit for the civilians trapped in the Wanni. As international pressure and condemnations rose  on the precarious situation of the civilians, there was no sign even by the end of the week whether the Tigers would allow the civilians to move freely, within or more importantly out of the shrinking battle zones.

Let alone the close to a quarter of million civilians, the Tigers have been stonewalling efforts  by the UN to remove UN local staff members and dependents out of the danger zone. On January 22, two international staff members who had accompanied a food convoy into the battle zone six days earlier were to return with the local staff members and dependents, totalling around 80 persons.

The locals and the dependents were denied exit by the Tigers at Puthukudiruppu. Some of them had secured the passes imposed by the Tigers  and others  in the group had not. The negotiations for them to leave the battle zone  have been ongoing between UN and the Tigers, but no chink in the hard-line Tiger stance was visible even by late last week, despite a host of international condemnations.

Close call

UN officials termed the situation in  the Tiger held areas, that had shrunk to 333 sq km by the beginning of last week, as 'extremely bad.'

UN officials who were staying inside the no fire zone also brushed against danger when artillery fire exploded near where they stayed. The staff members mainly local staffers had moved into the no-fire zone on January  24, night. Shell fire exploded near where the UN staff were staying that very night and on Sunday morning.

Soon after the close call, the UN staffers and dependents had moved out of the no fire zone and moved further east to Puthukudiruppu where they stayed as negotiations for their exit from the battle zone continued.

UN spokesperson in Colombo said that the UN staff had witnessed  dozens of bodies  after the shelling. Medical sources from within battle zone told reporters that at least 160 died and over 600 injured but did not indicate where the shell fire had originated from.

At least the UN staffers and the dependents had the UN talking to the Tigers and berating them in public, for the  thousands of others, there was not much more than international condemnation and concerns.

And condemnation and concerns have been flying all over the place. "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," US Ambassador Robert Blake said at a ceremony where food aid worth US$ 6.9 million was handed over.

 Civilians face danger

"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," he said adding, "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."

Blake also made remarks on the continuing inability of the UN to get its own staff out due to Tiger prevention.  "It was especially unfortunate that the LTTE refused to allow UN national staff and dependents to return from the Wanni with the UN convoy when the government allowed it to leave."

On January 27, the military said that the Tigers had refused the ICRC and the UN to move 300 patients in a convoy of 16 ambulances, seven World Food Programme (WFP) trucks and another vehicle out of the battle zone from PTK, now the only main town with total Tiger control, but besieged from all around.

On January 29 the convoy finally moved with over 226 wounded, including 50 children out of the conflict zone in a joint UN/ICRC convoy. However the UN's efforts to get the local staffers and the dependents out was still at a dead end. The two UN international staffers, who had gone into the Wanni to secure the safe passage for the local UN staffers  left the Wanni with the latest convoy.

Reports of civilians suffering in the battle zone have  been limited yet alarming. "People are being caught in the crossfire, hospitals and ambulances have been hit by shelling and several aid workers have been injured while evacuating the wounded," said ICRC Head of Operations for South Asia, Jacques de Maio in Geneva. The ICRC is the only international agency with a permanent presence in the conflict zone and painted a really grim picture.

International pressure

The international pressure that has mainly come from hard hitting statements, one after the other, is being maintained.  It all started with the report made by John Holmes, the UN Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs to the Security Council in early January, and there has been no let up. Last week UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay came out against holding the civilians.

"People trying to flee the conflict areas are reported to have either been prevented from doing so, or to have been arbitrarily detained in special centres," she said in a statement released by her office on  January 29. "It seems there may have been very grave breaches of human rights by both sides in the conflict, and it is imperative that we find out more about what exactly has been going on. It is also urgent that civilians in the north can find safe shelter, away from the fighting."

Pillay said that civilians had been prevented from leaving the areas of fighting by the Tigers and 'safe zones' declared by the government within the no fire zone had come under bombardment leading to civilians casualties.

"The perilous situation of civilians after many months of fighting, multiple displacements and heavy rains and flooding are extremely worrying," Pillay said. There were also statements by Amnesty  International, Human Rights Watch and local agencies as well.

European Union's Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel was another who joined the growing list of influential international officials who have come out publicly on the civilian plight.

"This is an escalating humanitarian catastrophe. We are extremely worried about the terrible situation facing people trapped in the fighting. Many civilians have died and hundreds of wounded people are deprived of adequate medical care," he said.

"We call upon the LTTE to allow full freedom of movement to all civilians, and to allow safe passage for those wishing to leave the conflict area. We ask the government to provide civilians with information on safe routes out of the conflict zone, with internationally assisted humanitarian corridors that would provide safety measures for civilians coming out of the conflict zone seeking protection.

"We also request the Government of Sri Lanka to ensure reception of civilians in accordance with international standards," the Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies said.

The government also announced that it would ensure safe passage to civilians who were leaving the Wanni.