Exchanges of shell-fire have continued between the northern Vanni and the Jaffna peninsula, with the targets and the intensity varying. Road traffic between Jaffna and the rest of the country remains cut. Three government vessels containing essential food items have arrived at Point Pedro and another four passenger vessels have brought workers and residents from and to Jaffna. In addition, intermittent fighting has continued in some areas in the east of the island.

On Saturday, 30 September, an explosive device was thrown in front of the ICRC's Jaffna office. No one was injured by the detonation but the building suffered some structural damage. In a statement, the ICRC called on all parties to the conflict to refrain from acts that jeopardize the safety of humanitarian workers. The Jaffna office reopened on 2 October.

Over the past two weeks, ICRC staff in Jaffna have continued basic water and sanitation work at several sites where displaced persons are living. The organization has also helped the Urban Council provide drinking water and has installed storage tanks and latrines at seven welfare centres where displaced persons have been accommodated. In addition, volunteers from the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society continued sessions at several sites to promote good hygiene practices. Present in Jaffna since 1990, the ICRC currently has five expatriate and 44 locally hired staff working on the peninsula.

In Batticaloa district, daily convoys continued unhindered into Vakarai, bringing food (World Food Programme), medicines, drinking water and other relief to about 35,000 displaced persons. The ICRC also continued assessing the needs of the population in the Mutur and Seruvila areas of Trincomalee district. Staff began carrying out basic water and sanitation work at some sites housing returnees, and distributed a limited amount of relief.

Health

The ICRC continued its support for hospitals and other health-care facilities in the north and east by distributing both medical supplies and household items needed day to day. Over the past two weeks, it has helped the local health authorities in Jaffna district by providing essential medical supplies. In Trincomalee district, Mutur hospital received medicines and dressing materials. In the Vanni region, the ICRC furnished medical supplies and dressings for the Mullaittivu district health-care services. In Batticaloa it helped take 12 injured or sick people to hospital in circumstances sometimes made difficult by the fighting. In addition, medical supplies and 20 beds and mattresses were donated to Vakarai hospital in order to increase its in-patient capacity to deal with the needs of both displaced people and the resident population affected by the recent hostilities. As part of community-based health projects, ICRC volunteers held health-promotion sessions for displaced people in Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Jaffna districts. The organization also supported the Sri Lanka Red Cross mobile health services in Jaffna, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts by means of basic health-care services.

Economic security

During the past two weeks, the ICRC has distributed essential household items and hygiene kits to more than 2,600 families (about 10,000 persons) in the Vanni (Madhu and Jeyanthunagar), in Mannar, in Batticaloa district (Panchenai and Vakarai), and in Vavuniya town. At the same time, the needs have been surveyed of returnees in the area of Seruvilla and Mutur, where projects are planned for the coming months to help people find a livelihood.

Water and habitat

The ICRC continued its water and habitat programmes in Jaffna, Trincomalee and Batticaloa, focusing on the provision of drinking water, construction of over 60 latrines in transit camps, and emergency sites housing displaced people. Meanwhile, 60 wells (most in the Vanni) were disinfected and cleaned, several water pumps repaired, and community septic tanks maintained. Work also started at Mallavi hospital to repair the water-supply system.

Restoring family links

The ICRC has been working closely with the Sri Lanka Red Cross to help members of families separated by the conflict to restore and maintain contact with one another. Over the past two weeks, delegates have collected 184 family messages and delivered 71. Since the beginning of August, some 350 people have restored contact with their families and almost 900 have registered their names at ICRC and Sri Lanka Red Cross offices.

Visits to detainees

Over the past two weeks, the ICRC has continued visiting people arrested on security grounds. Delegates carried out 15 visits, registering and holding private interviews with 158 detainees. Six Red Cross messages (brief personal messages from relatives) were delivered to detainees and 34 collected from them. The main purpose of the visits was to assess treatment and conditions of detention and to engage the respective authorities in confidential dialogue.

Protection of the civilian population

Families continued to report abductions of relatives by unknown persons throughout the country. Thirty cases have been documented in the past two weeks. Of these cases, 17 have been resolved. As part of the ICRC's role as neutral intermediary, delegates in Batticaloa and Ampara have continued to transport mortal remains.

ICRC presence at crossing points

The flow of goods and people across the lines separating government-controlled areas from territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has dropped owing to the worsening security situation. In the past two weeks, the ICRC has worked as a neutral intermediary to facilitate the movement of 5,451 civilians at the Omanthai and Uyilankulam crossings.

Since June 2006, the ICRC has:

• provided essential household items for about 63,000 people in conflict-affected areas, distributed 10,000 tarpaulins and 500 tents, transported hundreds of thousands of litres of drinking water, distributed dressing materials, medicines and other medical supplies to 12 hospitals and other health-care facilities in the north and east of the island, and helped take over 100 injured and sick people to hospital
  
• in conjunction with other components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, supplied displaced Muslim, Tamil and Sinhalese families in Kantale, Kinniya, Seruvilla and Trincomalee town with about 5,000 hygiene kits, 1,400 baby parcels and 1,000 kits of essential household items
  
• provided construction material and tools to build 525 shelters in Anuradhapura district for more than 3,000 Sinhalese, in addition to arranging for machines to dig new wells and providing showers and latrines
  
• helped more than 220,000 people cross the lines, and organized a convoy to bring more than 240 Sri Lankans and foreigners from Kilinochchi to Vavuniya
  
• regularly delivered aid to over 16,000 displaced people in Batticaloa district, including some 2,200 kits of household items and 4,000 tarpaulins in the past month alone (In the same district, an Italian Red Cross medical team has been running a mobile clinic together with the Sri Lanka Red Cross, treating hundreds of patients.)
  
• donated to the Ministry of Health – for Point Pedro Hospital in Jaffna – emergency supplies sufficient to treat 20,000 persons and provided medical supplies for the Sri Lanka Red Cross mobile clinic
  
• visited 678 security detainees
  
• recorded 205 cases of individuals reported missing, 140 cases of child recruitment, and over 50 cases of violations of international humanitarian law, such as extra-judicial killings and attacks on and ill-treatment of civilians.
  
  
  For further information, please contact:
  Davide Vignati, ICRC Colombo, tel: +94 11 250 33 46 or +94 77 728 96 82
  Carla Haddad, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 24 05 or +41 79 217 32 26