The additional funds will add to seven million euros approved for aid work in the country in July this year and follows appeals by the Red Cross as well as United Nations humanitarian aid agencies.
There are estimated to be 205,000 newly displaced people in Sri Lanka since April 2006, with more than 15,000 new refugees having fled to Tamil Nadu in neighbouring South India, since January this year.
The funds will be used to provide shelter for up to 80,000 people, clean water and sanitation, non-food items as well as medical and healthcare.
βAn emergency response was needed by the European Commission to meet these emergency needs in Sri Lanka given the increasing intensity of the conflict,β Julian Wilson, Ambassador and head of the EC delegation in Sri Lanka, told journalists on Wednesday.
The local civil conflict has escalated since December last year, with 2764 people killed as at September this year, over 700 of whom were civilians.
The Sri Lankan government has been waging a civil war with Tamil rebels fighting for a separate homeland in the North and East of the island, for over two decades.
Since 1983, more than 65,000 people have been killed and up to 800,000 people internally displaced in that time. There are also currently 80,000 Sri Lankan refugees in India, the EC said.
The European Commission has given Sri Lanka 64 million euros in aid for conflict and tsunami affected victims since 2004.
There are another half million people facing starvation in the North, this again a deliberate act of Chintana and his gang.
Unlike the Tsunami fund I hope it doesn't end in a private account, I hope Europeans have a mechanism of follow through to find out how the money spent.
nalinw
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