May 15, 2009

While the U.N. Security Council and U.S. President Barak Obama are expressing concern and urging an end to violence, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (www.crwrc.org) is providing emergency meals and temporary shelter to 15,000 Sri Lankan civilians who have made it to overcrowded camps in the northwestern and central portions of the country.

With local and international partners, CRWRC is providing $150,000 worth of cooked meals to families and individuals in IDP – internally displace persons – camps in Manik Farm, Vivaniyu. The food will provide new arrivals with two meals a day, and meet their nutritional needs, until they qualify for food staples from the World Food Program.

In addition, CRWRC partners are providing $30,000 in temporary shelter to displaced families in a camp in Jaffna where survivors are living in chaotic conditions. There, and in camps around the region, multiple families have been living together in tents designed for much less occupancy. The CRWRC emergency aid project will provide 12'x12' shelters to each family.

Although CRWRC no longer has offices in Sri Lanka after the completion of its tsunami response program, it does have ongoing partnerships in the affected area – enabling CRWRC to respond quickly to the current crisis.

Rebel group LLTE (Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam) has been fighting for independence from government rule in Sri Lanka for nearly 30 years. This most recent outburst of violence has cornered both the rebel forces and an estimated 50,000 civilians on a small strip of land on the northern tip of the country. The unrest has also sent more than 200,000 people running for their lives, again.

With both sides blaming each other for recent civilian injuries and casualties, there are reports that some medical staff have had to abandon the injured and the dead in recent shelling, and that large numbers of children are arriving at refugee camps alone, traumatized and separated from their families in the upheaval.

This recent increase in violence has left survivors in urgent need of outside assistance. CRWRC is appealing for financial donations for emergency aid to Sri Lankan refugees. Gifts can be given online at http://www.crwrc.org/, by clicking on "Sri Lanka Refugees 2009" on the donations page. Or give a credit card gift by calling 1-800-55-CRWRC, or mail your check marked "Sri Lanka Refugees 2009" to: CRWRC, 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 49560-0600. Members of the Press wishing interview with CRWRC regarding Sri Lanka relief, call Grace Wiebe at 1-800-730-3490. For more information about these programs or CRWRC's ministry in relief, development, and justice, call Beth DeGraff at 1-800-55-CRWRC or 616-648-7821.

For more information about CRWRC's disaster response, international development and justice programs, visit http://www.crwrc.org/ or call 1-800-55-CRWRC. CRWRC is a Christian, non-profit organization ministering in development, relief, and justice education with people in need around the world since 1962.CRWRC is present in more than 30 countries and has an international reputation for "living justice and loving mercy."

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