Activities of Secretary-General in Sri Lanka, 22-23 May
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, late in the evening of Friday, 22 May. He was accompanied by Vijay Nambiar, Chef de Cabinet; John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; and B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs.
Rohitha Bogollagama, the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, greeted the Secretary-General at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport. Following a brief meeting with the Foreign Minister, the Secretary-General told reporters that the main purpose of his trip was to help the Government of Sri Lanka begin a process of national recovery, renewal and reconciliation for all Sri Lankans.
The following day, the Secretary-General flew by helicopter to Manik Farm, an internally displaced persons’ camp in Vavuniya district, northern Sri Lanka. Almost 200,000 out of an estimated 300,000 people who had fled the conflict zone, reside in the camp.
At the camp, he met with local authorities, humanitarian workers and internally displaced persons. After visiting a hospital within the camp and talking with some of the patients, he told reporters that the United Nations stands ready to provide all necessary humanitarian assistance to the internally displaced persons, as well as help the Sri Lankan Government resettle and reintegrate those people back into society. He urged the Government to provide immediate and unimpeded access to all humanitarian workers.
“There are huge challenges and these challenges can be overcome only with strong support from the international community,” he said.
At the camp, he visited a World Food Programme warehouse and held a town-hall meeting with the local staff.
He then flew over a former conflict zone before leaving for Kandy to meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. With the President, he discussed ways to address Sri Lanka’s immediate humanitarian needs, as well as means to promote national reconciliation. He welcomed the Government’s recently announced plan to return 80 per cent of the internally displaced persons back to their homes by the end of this year.
Following his meeting with the President, he held a press conference in Kandy. He told reporters that, although the Government is doing its utmost, much more still needs to be done to help the internally displaced persons.
He strongly urged the Government to expedite the screening and registration of internally displaced persons, as well as make it easier for families to reunite and allow people more freedom of movement in and out of the camps.
Before leaving Sri Lanka, the Secretary-General and President Rajapaksa issued a joint statement, in which the two leaders agreed that addressing the aspirations and grievances of all communities and working towards a lasting political solution was fundamental to ensuring long-term socioeconomic development in Sri Lanka. (See Press Release SG/2151.)
The Secretary-General departed Sri Lanka for Copenhagen, Denmark, late on Saturday, 23 May.