EFT appeal to release civilians

Wanni civilians are confined to an area of roughly 120sq kms in former Tamil Eelam. The civilians are unable to flee to safer GoSL administered areas due to the intensifying battles between the SLA and remnants of the LTTE. The SLA demarcated a safe zone for civilians but as reported by the ICRC, this area has come under heavy indirect fire from unknown sources. The ultimate sufferers in the present phase are the civilians. EFT would like highlight the plight of the civilians below.

1. Suicide bombings and intimidating tactics.

Two noteworthy incidents to restrict civilian movements have taken place in the past five days. The first was an alleged suicide bombing of an IDP centre, and the second was intimidating fire on fleeing civilians by Tamil Eelam Police. Both these incidents resulted in casualties and were aimed at detaining civilians in the fast shrinking Tamil Nation. Civilians numbers fleeing to GoSL areas have reduced to a trickle after these two incidents, earlier in the week civilians were said to be arriving in GoSL areas in their thousands.

2. Civilians caught in cross fire

Wanni civilians are unsure of what direction to take as they are afraid of getting caught in the cross fire. The firefights between SLA and remaining LTTE cadres have increasingly turned into hand to hand combat. For example, civilians are nervous about fleeing in the direction of the 591 Brigade in Mullivaikkal as the 591 brigade is unable to secure a path for them due to fierce resistance put up by the depleted Tiger ranks in this front. The same can be said about civilians trying to flee towards the 55^th Division in Ampalavananpokkanai, this division has also stalled its advance due to concerted attacks by the remaining Tiger elements. The SLA has slowed down and in some fronts stalled their advance to avoid civilian casualties.

3. Civilians being used as slave labour

There are strong indications that civilians are being made to build bunkers for the LTTE under duress. The recently captured VIP bunker which was said to be frequented by the former leader of Tamil Eelam shows evidence of forced labour being used to build the VIP abode. As well as forced manual labour, there are strong indications that professionals such as medical doctors were forcibly employed in this bunker, as a matter of fact laboratory tests on the medical equipment has shown traces of the former leader's DNA confirming that he used to reside in the said bunker. EFT cries out for the civilians that were forcibly made to build these high profile bunkers. Additionally, forced labour was used to burn down 2 Zlins that were considered to be surplus to TAF requirements. EFT hopes that civilians were not harmed during the destruction process.

In light of the above, EFT pleads with the remaining Tiger leadership to guarantee a safe passage for the civilians into GoSL administered areas. For the LTTE's own sake, we believe it is best to lay down arms and enter rehabilitation as indicated by the EFT poll results.