Tsunami disaster in Sri Lanka The response of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) New version - updated 21 March 2005 29, Layards Road, Colombo 05, Sri Lanka – Tel (011) 250 33 46 / Fax (011) 250 33 48 E-mail: [email protected] – Web site: www.icrc.org/eng 1 Executive Summary Most of Sri Lanka’s coastlines were overwhelmed by the tsunami on 26 December. Over 30,000 people died. Of the approximately 500,000 people currently displaced, over 150,000 are housed in welfare centres (mostly temples and schools) or transit camps, while others are staying with relatives or friends. The response to the disaster is now focusing on planning and coordinating the long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction in the areas affected by the Tsunami. At the same time work continues to ensure adequate mid-term shelter, health care, water and sanitation for the people left homeless. The Red Cross Movement has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health concerning the rehabilitation of 33 medical facilities in various regions including the north and the east. The ICRC, which has been present in northern and eastern Sri Lanka for 15 years, is coordinating the humanitarian response in those areas. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is responsible for setting strategy and laying down general operational guidelines for the whole region, in addition to coordinating specific operations in the south and south-west of Sri Lanka. Both the ICRC and the Federation are working closely with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society and the national and local authorities. Assistance Working with the local authorities, the Sri Lankan Red Cross and the ICRC have delivered over 32,000 family kits to welfare centres and transit camps in the north and east of the country. Such kits typically contain floor mats, bed sheets, soap, towels, buckets, jerry cans and plastic dishes. In addition, over 100 welfare centres in the same regions were provided with cooking pots and utensils for communal cooking. Nearly 12,000 pieces of clothing have been distributed so far to displaced families. The ICRC has agreed to provide 30,000 displaced families with monthly hygiene kits over a six-month period. The kits contain soap, toothpaste, sanitary towels, bath towels, mosquito coils, etc. Shelter The ICRC has supplied 4,000 tents to displaced families to enable them to move from the emergency welfare centres to transit camps in the Districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaittivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. 1000 additional tents are being set-up currently. The ICRC has also distributed over 7,800 plastic sheets for temporary shelter purposes. Water and sanitation The ICRC has provided latrines, water distribution systems and washing facilities in transit camps and welfare centres, and is cleaning wells in cooperation with local authorities in Mullaittivu, Kilinochchi, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. Teams from the Swedish, German, Italian and French Red Cross Societies are also providing fresh water and are cleaning wells in Batticaloa and Ampara Districts. Furthermore, the ICRC is furnishing the National Water Supply and Drainage Board with 480 tonnes of aluminium sulphate to purify drinking water. 1 Medical programmes An ICRC medical team of specialized doctors and nurses, including members on loan from the German Red Cross, is providing support for the Puthukkudiyiruppu hospital. The ICRC has also deployed a team to the Pallai Divisional Hospital. The ICRC has also set up a number of large tents in welfare centres and transit camps to be used as medical structures and has provided material such as medications, medical equipment and dressings to hospitals in Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya. Some 250 Sri Lankan Red Cross volunteers in Batticaloa District have been trained in health education by the ICRC and deployed in welfare centres and transit camps. In Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu, over 50 Red Cross community health workers paid by the ICRC are providing first aid and health-education services for displaced families. Medical teams from the Finnish, Norwegian, French and Italian Red Cross Societies opened temporary clinics in Tsunami-affected areas in the Districts of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. Most of those teams have left the country and handed over their equipment and supplies to local health facilities, as the emergency phase is over. The Danish Red Cross is conducting series of training sessions to assist teachers and Sri Lankan Red Cross volunteers to provide psychological support services in Tsunami affected areas. Restoring family links Immediately following the disaster, the ICRC set up 12 mobile teams to help restore family links for survivors and their relatives. The teams had been established in cooperation with the Sri Lankan Red Cross and with the participation of tracing experts from the Netherlands, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel. Those teams visited over 300 welfare centres in the Districts of Colombo, Galle, Matara, Tangalle, Hambantota, Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Kilinochchi and Mullaittivu, where they gave people the opportunity to make over 1,700 satellite telephone calls – the majority to relatives overseas – and collected 417 “I Am Alive” messages that were posted on the website and published in the Sri Lankan media. Over 50 particularly vulnerable people were actively traced and contact with their families was restored through Red Cross messages. With the speedy restoration of normal communication channels in Sri Lanka, tsunami-related tracing activities have been scaled back. The ICRC has also started distributing mail kits, consisting of stamps, envelopes, paper and pens to families in certain areas, allowing them to stay in touch with relatives and at the same time express themselves concerning the events and their emotions. Set-up In Sri Lanka, the ICRC counts currently on 88 international and 380 national staff. It has offices in Colombo, Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Muthur, Vavuniya, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Puthukkudiyiruppu, and Jaffna. 2 2 Regional information on activities 2.1. Ampara Health In Arugam Bay south of Pottuvil, a health team from the French Red Cross had installed a dispensary, which had attended over 120 patients a day in the first weeks after the tsunami. The clinic has now closed down with supplies and drugs donated to local authorities. South of Komari, a team from the Finnish Red Cross treated 300 patients a week in a tent clinic. The clinic has since closed and the efforts of the team focused on support to local health facilities. In Ampara, the Danish Red Cross runs a psycho-social counselling program in close cooperation with the regional health authorities and with volunteers from the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. The program aims at assisting people in the welfare centres and transit camps to come to terms with the loss of loved ones, and focuses particularly on the psychosocial support for traumatised children. Water & sanitation In the Kalmunai region, an engineer team from the French Red Cross is repairing the affected water supply system, in coordination with the Water Board and has set up a water purification unit that produces about 100 cubic metres per day. In the areas of Komari and Arugam Bay, engineers from the German Red Cross are providing up to 150 cubic metres per day of purified drinking water to the population. The team also installed a new treatment plant that produces 90 cubic metres a day in the area of Tirukovil. A team of the Swedish Red Cross has constructed 10 water tanks, 80 latrines in Komari and rehabilitated about 1400 water wells in the area of Pottuvil. After completion of the project, the team has now left Ampara District. ICRC will be using their material to clean wells in the area of Kalmunai South. Furthermore, two trucks with bladder tanks provided by the ICRC continue to distribute water in Kalmunai. Shelter The ICRC has responded positively to the Government Agent’s request to provide over 2000 tents to displaced families. 458 tents have been distributed to families in Kalmunaikudy, and 138 tents in Saintamaruthu. The ICRC is supplying 500 tents in Kalmunai and a further 360 will be delivered in Saintamaruthu, 300 in Karaithivu and 150 in Addelachennai. The American Red Cross has provided 483 tents and tarpaulins in the region of Pottuvil, Komari and Tirrukkovil. The Swiss Red Cross sent 840 tents to the Ampara branch of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. Assistance With the assistance of volunteers from the Sri Lanka Red Cross, the ICRC delivered over 12,500 family parcels to displaced people, containing essential household items such as floor mats, bed sheets, towels, soap, buckets, cups, plates, and bowls. Of these, 2000 family parcels went to welfare centres in Sainthamaruthu, 1186 to Periya Neelavanai, 1765 to Karaithivu, 1748 to Pottuvil, 1195 to Ninthavur, 1417 to Kalmunaikudy, 345 to Kalmunai, 1180 to Maruthumunai, 1060 to Komari, 760 to Akkaraipattu, 497 to Ampara town, 288 to 3 Lahagula-Panama, and 28 to Ulla Arugambay. The ICRC also distributed kitchen sets, blankets and jerrycans to displaced families in the District. The American Red Cross has given household parcels to around 12,500 displaced families in an area including Panama, Pottuvil, Komari and Tirrukkovil. The Swiss Red Cross has provided additional 300 family parcels containing essential household items to the Ampara Branch of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society, for distribution among displaced families. The Turkish Red Crescent, supported by the ICRC and the SLRCS has distributed 1,567 kitchen sets and 5,000 mosquito nets. 2.2. Batticaloa Health In the first week following the tsunami disaster, joint ICRC and Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) rescue teams assisted the local authorities and the affected population to evacuate many injured, as well as to recover the bodies of deceased.