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• فارن سکریٹری کی جانب سے مسلمانو ں کو ماہ رمضان کی مبارکباد
• Sri Lanka - 'Protection of civilians is absolutely paramount'
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Sri Lanka - 'Protection of civilians is absolutely paramount'

Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, visited Sri Lanka on 29 April with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to urge a humanitarian ceasefire.

The Foreign Secretary travelled to the country to highlight the UK's concern over the pressing humanitarian situation, which has been described by the United Nations as 'dire'.

Ahead of the visit David Miliband said their aim was to urge the government of Sri Lanka to live up to the case made by the UN Security Council President last Friday repeating that the LTTE should facilitate an exit from the conflict zone.

In a press conference in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, the Foreign Secretary said 'now is the time for the fighting to stop... Protection of civilians is absolutely paramount in our minds.'

Speaking to the BBC, the Foreign Secretary said:

"Well the so called safe zone is not safe at all, that’s where the conflict has been ongoing. The Sri Lankan Defence Secretary confirmed there will be absolutely no more heavy shelling, that must be put in to practice, but of course it’s a stop to the fighting that the European Union and the G8 have been calling for. 

At the moment the civilians are trapped by LTTE, the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist organisation that is stopping them leaving this so called no fire zone but the Government’s obviously got responsibility that it needs to live up to as a democratic member of the United Nations applying the rules of international humanitarian law."

Read the full transcript

During the visit David Miliband and Bernard Kouchner met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and called on the government to allow aid workers into the war zone.

They also toured displacement (IDP) camps to see for themselves the humanitarian situation. As part of their tour they visited a French field hospital and UK funded UNHCR tents. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had earlier expressed concern over the welfare of refugees in these camps. 

Further information

More information on the conflict in Sri Lanka.

UKinSriLanka.fco.gov.uk - High Commission in Sri Lanka