Sri Lanka's NO ENTRY ZONE

July 18th 2009

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajpakse condemned some of the international media's reports on high death rates at IDP camps in Vavuniya. Health Ministry Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage seconded the statment of the President at a brief press conference that took place in Colombo.

London-based daily Times has carried out a news item recently that said about 1,400 people are dying every week at the Manik Farm welfare center in Vavuniya citing a senior international aid source.

However the news report was strongly rejected and the Sri Lanka Health Secretary pointed out there were only 163 deaths reported from welfare centers in the North during the period between 15th of June and 14th of July. He also added that according to the international standards the death rates in the Northern camps are lower than minimum.

Meanwhile, the representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO) who joined this press briefing have also said that the news item carried out by Times was completely false.

It's the government of Sri Lanka that is inviting faulty media reports as the camps remain a NO ENTRY ZONE even after two months.