Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/untrip1may1srilanka052209.html
FRANKFURT, May 22 – In the wake of weeks of killing in northern Sri Lanka, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and senior UN officials are headed to the island. On the first leg of the trip, a commercial flight from New York to Frankfurt to meet up with Ban and his UN plane, a senior UN official spoke to the Press on background. He acknowledged that Ban must avoid “being manipulated or part of triumphalism... by what he says, by how he behaves.” That, then, will be among the tests of the whirlwind visit.
The official, who requested anonymity apparently to not outshine Ban, initially said the the internally displaced people are being cared for reasonably well. When Pressed, he acknowledged that not only non-governmental organizations but also the UN are now barred from entering the IDP camps with vehicles. “Manik Farms is large, you can't just walk around it,” he said, adding that he hopes this access problem is solved “before we get there,” or during Ban's visit. Thus, another test.
Inner City Press asked if the UN has paid for the camps it is now barred from. Yes, the official acknowledged, the UN has paid for much of it, “that's why we need unfettered access.” Inner City Press asked if the official was aware of any other situation in which the UN was constructively barred from camps that it had paid for. “Not off hand,” the official said, “but I'm not an expert.”
The UN official mused about how Tamils should feel like equal citizens so things don't revert “to guerrilla war, a danger that's obvious to everyone.” Because he wanted to not be named, other relevant questions that would have identified him would not be asked. Yet. Watch this space.
Footnote / full disclosure: this reporter has been granted a visa, albeit for only two days, gratis by the Sri Lankan mission. A request for more than two days resulted in instructions to write a letter, which will be considered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “after a background check.” Watch this site.And see, www.innercitypress.com/untrip1may1srilanka052209.html
