Picture of the day: Sri Lankan civilians trapped in fighting

More than 100,000 civilians have fled the area held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in northern Sri Lanka. Government soldiers and the LTTE rebels continue to fight the apparent endgame of Asia's longest-running war despite calls to protect an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped in an area controlled by the LTTE.

Meanwhile the UN humanitarian chief tries to negotiate access for the relief organisations. (Full)

More Pictures of the Day on The Road.

Picture courtesy REUTERS/David Gray

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11 million people on the run in Central and East Africa alone

A sad start-of-year balance: violence, wars, political turmoil and natural disasters forced 11 million people in Central and East Africa out of their homes.

9.1 million became refugees within their own country ("internally displaced persons (IDPs) in humanitarian lingo). Half the IDPs 4,576,250 are in Sudan. 2,700,000 of them in the war-torn Darfur region.

1.8 million people were forced to seek haven outside their homelands, most of them hosted by Chad, Tanzania and Kenya.

Displacement in the region is triggered mainly by armed conflicts and natural disasters such as floods and drought. Frequently, several of these hit a country at the same time, creating complex humanitarian emergencies. Scarcity of resources, limited access to land and inconclusive peace and reconciliation processes create multiple challenges blocking the return home.

Humanitarian response to both acute and long-term displacement is often hampered by lack of access to the affected people due to ongoing conflict and persistent high insecurity including the targeting of humanitarian workers. (Full)

There are a total of 26 million internally displaced people throughout the world, and approximately 13.9 million refugees are forced to live in a country other than their own. (Full)

Picture courtesy ABCNews

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Rumble: Different Reading: Life Stories of the Less Lucky

The Internally Displacement Monitoring Center published a number of life stories from Columbian IDPs.

"IDP" is an acronym for Internally Displaced People, people "who have been forced to flee or to leave their homes, due to armed conflict violence, violations of human rights or disasters, but have not crossed an internationally recognised state border."
Call them "refugees within their own country".

Have a read. Should make most of us realize how lucky we are. Do we appreciate it enough?

Picture courtesy of IDPvoices.org

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