Reuters

Fleeing danger for uncertainty

GAUNT, wide-eyed and layered with grime, hundreds of civilians have started stumbling out of the diminishing patch of northern Sri Lanka that Tamil Tiger rebels continue to defend. Images released by the army show exhausted men, women and children clutching meagre belongings stuffed into schoolbags, sacks and weathered suitcases. Few wear shoes or slippers. Their feet are dusty and cracked from the trek into government-held areas.

Some have injuries but there is no saying which side inflicted them. With fighting between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam reaching a fierce climax, civilians and the truth are both casualties of war. Journalists have no access to the battlefront or to the displaced and must depend on information released by the government or the Tigers.

According to army records, more than 30,000 out of an estimated 250,000 civilians have streamed out of Tiger territory this year. The exodus has been particularly heavy this week and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the defence secretary, said a sense of self-preservation will cause the others to surge out more rapidly. If the fighting doesn't force them out, shortages of food, drinking water and other essentials will.

The army maintains that frantic rebels have intensified efforts to retain non-combatants as “human shields”. On February 9th a woman travelling with displaced people blew herself up when about to be searched by soldiers manning the entry point at Vishwamadu. Ten civilians, including a four-year-old girl, and 19 soldiers were killed. The government said it was a desperate attempt by the rebels—who did not comment on the bombing—to prevent civilians from deserting them.

On February 10th the Tigers reportedly sprayed bullets into a crowd of people heading towards government areas, killing 19 and injuring at least 75. Udaya Nanayakkara, the army's spokesman, said 1,057 civilians had later made it out with the bodies of the dead. On the pro-Tiger TamilNet website, C. Ilamparithy, a rebel leader, denied involvement in the incident. He said commandos from the army had entered their territory and opened fire. The Tigers have repeatedly accused the army of wilfully shelling civilian-populated places, of starving them of supplies and of bombing hospitals. The claims are unverifiable.

Amnesty International, a human-rights group, said in a statement that hundreds of civilians have now lost their lives. Its Sri Lanka expert, Yolanda Foster, gave warning that, “in a war with no witnesses, it is the civilians who pay the price for both parties' disregard for international humanitarian law.” The International Committee of the Red Cross, which still has a presence in the war zone, also called for restraint. It said civilians had died in the bombing of hospitals and makeshift medical centres but did not apportion blame.

In government-controlled areas, civilians are registered, “sorted” and placed in camps. Their movement is restricted and they are watched closely for suspicious activity. They are also uncertain of their fates at the hands of an army that has to root out rebels lurking among them. The authorities say they will eventually be resettled but that security concerns must be dealt with, “for everyone's sake”.