British government to give Red Cross and UN aid teams £1m

Britain is to send £1 million to Sri Lanka to be split between the International Committee of the Red Cross and United Nations teams working in the country.

The move comes less than two weeks after the British government suspended its aid payments to the Sri Lankan government because of human rights concerns.

British High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott urged an end to the violence and said that he hoped the money would go some way towards helping those who have lost their livelihoods and homes in the country.

He said, “Recent fighting, particularly in the east of Sri Lanka, has displaced tens of thousands of innocent civilians. The underlying causes of so much human misery need to be addressed urgently.”

“The only solution to this massive disruption of civilian life in Sri Lanka is for all sides to immediately bring the violence to an end.”

The violence in the country has escalated in recent weeks, leading the Red Cross to call for security guarantees from the Tamil Tigers. Safety fears for aid workers have been present since the start of the conflict, but have increased since the peace process broke down 18 months ago.

Read more about the conflict in Sri Lanka here.