Returning Sri Lankan IDPs strain the local health system

24 November 2009

Thousands of Sri Lankan Internally Displaced People are returning to their homes six months after fighting ceased between the government troops and the opposing Tamil Tigers in May 2009. IDP camps contained more than 280,000 people after the end of the quarter-century long civil war. Difficult conditions in the camps and the restricted movement of residents have been an ongoing concern for the international community. Now IDPs are returning home in large numbers and the government has a stated goal of emptying the camps by the end of January 2010. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs visited Sri Lanka last week. He spoke of the issues facing the returning IDPs at the United Nations this week. “It’s clear that those who are leaving the camps and going back home welcome that process very much. Nevertheless there are concerns about the quality of the returns process.” He specified concern with quality of basic services in the communities IDPs are returning to. Health care access is a significant problem for the communities hosting the returning IDPs. Some of the areas to which they are returning were devastated in the fighting, and much of the health infrastructure was destroyed. Doctor Edwin Salvador, Focal Point for Emergency and Humanitarian Assistance for the World Health Organization in Sri Lanka, described the status of the health infrastructure: “Some of the rehabilitation work to damaged health facilities will be completed in about two weeks time, although there is still a lot to do.” Many communities only have access to mobile clinics while the hospitals are being repaired. Emergency measures are also being taken to staff the medical clinics. “Doctors, nurses and midwives have already been mobilized from other districts to work in hospitals. Once basic accommodation can be provided to these medical personnel, these doctors, nurses and midwives will be assigned permanently.” The return of thousands of IDPs is straining the infrastructure of their communities, but the UN, the WHO and the national medical community are committed to addressing their needs.