Humanitarian Disaster Looms in War-Torn Sri Lanka

(14 Jan 09 - RV) Aid groups in Sri Lanka are warning that 400 thousand civilians risk becoming victims of increased violence in the Government’s final push against Tamil tiger rebels in the north of the island. The aid groups say the Tigers are now boxed into an area of 1,000 square kilometres with 3,000 hardcore fighters backed by 300,000 Tamil civilians, who are being used as human shields as ranks diminish and the army encroaches. Emer McCarthy spoke about the situation with the director of Sri Lanka’s National Council for Peace, Jehan Perrera.