Ilankai Tamil Sangam
Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA
Published by Sangam.org

No Safety, No Escape

Children and the escalating armed conflict in Sri Lanka

by Watchlist on Children in Armed Conflict, April 14, 2008

Thousands of children are missing out on school, denied basic health care and facing daily threats to their lives, such as suicide bombings, landmine explosions, abductions, arbitrary arrests, recruitment and use as soldiers and forced displacement.

"No Safety No Escape is being released against the backdrop of an escalating military build up and fear of deepening warfare in Sri Lanka. Many children in Sri Lanka live in a state of constant fear and insecurity. Every day the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE), the Government armed forces, and paramilitary groups, such as the military wing of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), commit heinous crimes against children. Thousands of children are missing out on school, denied basic health care and facing daily threats to their lives, such as suicide bombings, landmine explosions, abductions, arbitrary arrests, recruitment and use as soldiers and forced displacement."

Four page summary of the report here.

Summary in Tamil here.

Full report here.

A webcast of the press conference at the UN on April 14, 2008 at which the report was released here.

Press release here.

January, 2008 Watchlist report on the experimental UN child rights monitoring mechanism in Sri Lanka here.