Europe Says No to ‘Use of Humanitarian Aid for Sri Lankan Government’s Bankruptcy Bailout’


(Brussels, 14 06 2009) - THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION on Friday (12 06 2009) decided that for emergency humanitarian actions in North of Sri Lanka to reach populations in need, “aid should be channelled through Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and International Organisations including United Nations (UN) agencies”. Therefore the European Commission should implement the budget by central direct management or by joint management.

Commission of the European Communities decision (12 06 2009) is as follows:

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Brussels
C(2009) XXX final
COMMISSION DECISION
of
on the financing of emergency humanitarian Actions from the general budget of the
European Communities in SRI LANKA
(ECHO/LKA/BUD/2009/02000)

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No.1257/96 of 20 June 1996 concerning humanitarian aid(1) , and in particular Article 2(a) and Article 13 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The ongoing conflict between government forces and the LTTE(2) in the north of Sri Lanka has escalated dramatically since the beginning of 2009, creating serious humanitarian needs for almost 300,000 civilians caught up in the conflict.

(2) On 20 April 2009 Sri Lankan forces breached LTTE defences in the conflict zone, allowing over 130,000 trapped civilians to flee from the fighting.

(3) Following initial security screening by the army, the civilians were taken to IDP(3)camps in government controlled territory in the north of Sri Lanka, where 65,000 people who had previously fled the fighting were already being detained.

(4) The government announced on 19 May 2009 the definitive defeat of the LTTE, and since then a further 85,000 civilians have arrived in the IDP camps.

(5) Humanitarian conditions in the majority of the overcrowded camps are far below minimum standards: there is no freedom of movement for IDPs; health facilities are overwhelmed; there are grave shortcomings in the provision of water and sanitation services; and serious protection issues.

(6) To reach populations in need, aid should be channelled through Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and International Organisations including United Nations (UN) agencies. Therefore the European Commission should implement the budget by central direct management or by joint management.

(7) Humanitarian aid Actions financed by this Decision should be of a maximum duration of 6 months.

(8) It is estimated that an amount of EUR 5,000,000 from budget article 23 02 01 of the general budget of the European Communities is necessary to provide humanitarian assistance to up to 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and conflict affected population taking into account the available budget, other donors’ contributions and other factors. The activities covered by this Decision may be financed in full accordance with Article 253 of the Implementing Rules of the Financial Regulation.

(9) The present Decision constitutes a financing Decision within the meaning of Article 75 of the Financial Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002(4), Article 90 of the detailed rules for the implementation of the Financial Regulation determined by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002(5), and Article 15 of the Internal Rules on the Implementation of the general budget of the European Communities(6).

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

1. In accordance with the objectives and general principles of humanitarian aid, the Commission hereby approves a total amount of EUR 5,000,000 for emergency humanitarian aid Actions to provide the necessary assistance and relief for up to 300,000 IDPs and conflict affected population in SRI LANKA by using article 23 02 01 of the 2009 general budget of the European Communities.

2. In accordance with Article 2(a) of Council Regulation No.1257/96, the humanitarian Actions under this Decision shall be implemented in the pursuance of the following specific objective:

– To provide integrated humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and conflict affected population in Sri Lanka.

The full amount of this Decision is allocated to this specific objective.

Article 2

1. The implementation of humanitarian aid Actions funded by this Decision shall have a maximum duration of 6 months from their starting date.

2. Expenditure under this Decision shall be eligible from 20 April 2009.

3. If the Actions envisaged in this Decision are suspended owing to force majeure or comparable circumstances, the period of suspension shall not be taken into account for the calculation of the duration of the humanitarian aid Actions.

Article 3

1. The Commission shall implement the budget by central direct management or by joint management with international organisations.

2. Actions supported by this Decision will be implemented either by Non-profit-making organisations which fulfil the eligibility and suitability criteria established in Article 7 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1257/96 or by International organisations.

3. Taking account of the specificities of humanitarian aid, the nature of the activities to be undertaken, the specific location constraints and the level of urgency, the activities covered by this Decision may be financed in full in accordance with Article 253 of the Implementing Rules of the Financial Regulation.

Article 4

This Decision shall take effect on the date of its adoption.

Done at Brussels

For the Commission
Member of the Commission

Full_Report (pdf format)

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 14th, 2009 and is filed under Statements. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
« Camp disappearances reach alarming levels - Rights advocate
Seeman alleges abduction of young girls by SLA in Vavuniyaa internment camps »

One Response to “Europe Says No to ‘Use of Humanitarian Aid for Sri Lankan Government’s Bankruptcy Bailout’”

  1. Dr C P Thiagarajah - June 15th, 2009 at 7:50 am

    The wise and right decision by the EC. This will be a lesson to all bellingerent states who throw away reasonable request from democratic states to heed human rights concerns of the ethnic minorities and carry out genocide. Failed states like Sinhala controlled Sri-Lanka foolishly estimated that it could attain the annihilation of 50000 Tamil members of its minority and still become respectable in the world to get money aid in the name of helping the IDPs and siphon off such aid to run its tyranical regime. The West should teach them a lesson by economic and political embago. Just look at their folly; a small country not even the size of Chennai maintaining an army the size of which is more than Britain, one of the major powers . Sri-Lanka has no external enemy and because of bankruptcy in its governmental policy it had been forced into such dictatorial approach of army control of its minority by countries that are prepared to bank roll this silly government. The EC has done the right thing. Congratulations.

Leave a Comment