Refugees International Vice President for Policy Joel Charny and Advocate Sarah Martin will be traveling to Sri Lanka September 8-23, 2005 to conduct a humanitarian assessment mission as Sri Lanka approaches the one year anniversary of the devastating tsunami. The RI team will assess the overall effectiveness of the international reconstruction effort and monitor the extent to which tsunami-displaced populations have been re-integrated into their communities.

Additionally, RI will assess the impact of the tsunami recovery effort on persons previously displaced by the conflict, particularly those in the eastern part of the country, and assess the overall prospects for peace and reconciliation in the light of recent political developments. The team will also monitor two small-scale reconstruction projects in Galle and Batticaloa funded on a pass-through basis by private donors.

The massive earthquake and tsunami that struck 12 countries in South Asia and Africa on December 26, 2004 claimed the lives of more than 280,000 people. Millions more were left homeless and without food, water, medical care or proper sanitation. Sri Lanka was one of the hardest hit countries. RI traveled to Sri Lanka in January 2005 in the immediate aftermath of the tsunami to assess the damage and recommend actions to address the needs of tsunami-displaced people.

In addition to the estimated 500,000 people displaced by the tsunami, about 390,000 Sri Lankans have been displaced, both internally and as refugees, by the civil war that began in 1983 and ended with an increasingly tenuous ceasefire in 2002. In the aftermath of the tsunami, the Government and the LTTE have struggled to find a way to cooperate to reconstruct the country. The international community had hoped that the natural disaster would be a way to move forward with the peace process, but the political situation remains tense.