VZCZCXRO5817
PP RUEHBI
DE RUEHLM #1892 3170606
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 130606Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY COLOMBO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4699
INFO RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 9583
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 6509
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 4566
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 3310
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0197
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO 3399
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM 0436
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2480
RUEHCG/AMCONSUL CHENNAI 7049
RUEHBI/AMCONSUL MUMBAI 4870
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1504

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001892 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PHUM PTER MOPS PREL ASEC CE
SUBJECT: BILATERAL DONORS AND INGOS PRESS GOVERNMENT ON 
ACCESS 
 
REF: A) COLOMBO 1884 B) COLOMBO 1747 C) COLOMBO 1626 
 
     AND PREVIOUS 
 
THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Meetings of the Bilateral Donors Group 
(BDG) and the Consultative Committee Meeting on Humanitarian 
Assistance (CCMHA) this past week focused on NGO access and 
the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka's North 
and East.  While BDG members, the UN, the ICRC, and the EU 
are pressing for improved access to LTTE-controlled areas and 
Jaffna, the Secretary of Defense remains reluctant.  He did 
propose an alternative land route to Jaffna, however.  Donors 
will ask for a meeting with President Rajapaksa to discuss 
the findings of the BDG field missions.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Representatives from the BDG conducted monitoring 
missions to Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Jaffna from 
October 5-13, 2006 to assess the humanitarian situation and 
delivery of aid.  They presented their report at a November 9 
Donors' Group meeting hosted attended by AID Director.  A 
discussion on November 3 at the second meeting of the CCMHA 
(high-level group on NGO access) brought together 
representatives of the GSL, the UN, Red Cross, World Food 
Program, and the EU to discuss access to "uncleared" 
(Tiger-controlled) areas and the opening of supply routes to 
Jaffna. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The BDG field mission reported that INGOs do not 
have access to LTTE-controlled areas.  The UN and ICRC have 
limited access to LTTE areas subject to lengthy government 
approval procedures.  The BDG missions noted the government 
restricted transport of even basic humanitarian supplies such 
as tents and plastic covers into "uncleared" areas.  The BDG 
found that food consumption is below minimum required levels. 
 The situation for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in 
Jaffna, Vakarai (Batticaloa) and Eechilampatu (Trincomalee) 
is severe.  The BDG field mission report recommended that the 
GSL coordinate a mechanism for granting NGO access, with 
these three areas listed as the first priority.  During the 
CCMHA, the UN also proposed a new system to issue more NGOs 
work permits for uncleared areas.  Secretary of Defense 
Gotabaya Rajapaksa said he would assess the request, but was 
reluctant to allow INGOs into uncleared areas because of the 
security threat and to avoid any possible repetition of the 
Action Contre la Faim Muttur case. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The BDG field mission noted that Jaffna remains in 
a state of near-isolation.  While the government is 
transporting basic food supplies via sea, the flow is 
insufficient to meet basic nutrition needs of the population. 
 In the CCMHA, the ICRC emphasized the need for a 
humanitarian supply route to Jaffna agreed by both the GSL 
and LTTE.  Secretary Rajapaksa affirmed that the A9 will 
remain closed, but suggested that an alternative land route 
* possibly via Pooneryn and by ferry to Jaffna * could be a 
possibility. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In its November 9 meeting, the BDG concluded the 
humanitarian crisis is not getting enough international 
attention and recommended wider dissemination of the BDG's 
October field mission findings.  Donors agreed that a meeting 
with President Rajapaksa to present the report would be the 
best chance to achieve improvements the humanitarian 
situation and NGO access. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) COMMENT: The LTTE has shown little interest in the 
alternate A-9 route proposed by the government.  Ref (A) 
reports that on November 8, government troops fired on a Sri 
Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)/LTTE Peace Secretariat 
reconnaissance trip to Pooneryn to look at the alternate 
route, probably in error. 
BLAKE