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UN Mistakes Sri Lanka for
Zimbabwe, Access to Vanni Doubtful, UNICEF No Comment Yet
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
February 11 -- The day after UN
Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon called the crisis in northern Sri Lanka "under-reported"
and spoke of sending a UN humanitarian assessment team there when he
finds it
appropriate, the level of UN's un-engagement in Sri Lanka became clear.
Inner
City Press, which asked Ban why he hasn't called for a ceasefire, on
Wednesday
asked Ban's spokesperson Michele Montas for information about Ban's
assessment
mission idea, whether the Sri Lankan government would grant access, and
what level
of UN official has been allowed into the Vanni region since September
2008.
Ms. Montas
responded that "where Ms. Bragg will go with the delegation is going to
be
determined" once there, "if it can enter Vanni" is not known,
but it will aim "wherever we have the highest civilian casualties."
Video here,
from Minute 12:52.
But as
Inner City Press pointed out, the UN's Catherine Bragg is going to
Zimbabwe,
not Sri Lanka. Oh I see, Ms. Montas
apologized. She acknowledged that the UN people given access are
"operational people working on the ground." She
added, "He feels that it is
needed." But would the government give access? "We don't know
yet," Ms. Montas said.
While on
the one hand Ban's spokesperson went beyond his February 10 comment
that he
would send humanitarian assessment teams "whenever I think it is
appropriate," but saying "he feels that it is needed," to
mistake Zimbabwe for Sri Lanka raises more questions.
Northern Sri Lanka targeted -- in out-of-date map, UN still not shown
Later on
Wednesday, Inner City Press asked the head of one of the UN
humanitarian
agencies, UNICEF's Ann Veneman, if the UN has had difficult accessing
north Sri
Lanka and especially Vanni. "We have difficulties with access now for
our
humanitarian work," Ms. Veneman answered, adding that she was in
Northern
Sri Lanka in 2005 and that her agency would get more information to
Inner City
Press. Video here,
from Minute 30:05
Shortly
after the press conference, Inner City Press e-mailed questions to
UNICEF's
spokesman:
"Are there
areas of Sri
Lanka to which UNICEF does not have access? How large and where are
these
areas? Have there been changes in the past days, weeks and months? Has
there
been any changes in recruitment or use of child soldiers in that time
frame, to
UNICEF's knowledge? What is UNICEF's view of the current upsurge in
conflict's
impact on children and women? Would
UNICEF call for a ceasefire? If not, why not? Writing on this today."
The UNICEF
spokesman left a voice mail, "I am not waking up any of our people in
Sri
Lanka on this one," he said. One reporter, hearing this, quipped that
the
UN has long been asleep in and on Sri Lanka. Watch this site.
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
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City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
Click here for Inner City
Press Nov. 7 debate on the war in Congo
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
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here
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National
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undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
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