US disaster aid expert in Sri Lanka to study refugee crisis in Trincomalee

Aug 18 (LBO) - The United States government’s international aid agency has sent a disaster expert to study the refugee crisis in the country’s eastern Trincomalee area, the US embassy in Colombo said Friday. œAccording to information gathered from United Nations and NGO sources, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that at least 50,000 people from the southern part of Trincomalee District have been driven from their homes following heavy fighting in the area between Sri Lankan Army and LTTE forces, the embassy said in a statement.

œA representative from USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Management arrived in Sri Lanka today and in the coming days will assess the short-term humanitarian needs of the displaced in the Trincomalee area.

The United States had released five million Sri Lankan rupees to provide to provide water and sanitation services for immediate assistance to displaced people.

œWe are providing this assistance to help the displaced from all communities in Sri Lanka, USAID Mission Director Dr. Carol Becker said in the statement. œWe repeat that there is no possible military solution to this conflict. We urge both sides to cease hostilit