Conflict in Sri Lanka has slowed church aid work, says Catholic agency

Published: 2007-03-14

ROME (CNS) -- Conflict in Sri Lanka has slowed Catholic aid work and has caused some projects to be suspended, a church aid agency said. Caritas Sri Lanka reported March 13 that the violence in the country has made it too dangerous to continue tsunami reconstruction in areas that are not controlled by the government. Caritas Sri Lanka is the local affiliate of Caritas Internationalis, an international network of Catholic relief, development and social service agencies. "The government appears to have gone on the offensive and to be seeking a military solution to the conflict," said Father Damian Fernando, director of Caritas Sri Lanka, in a statement released by Caritas in Rome. Father Fernando was in Rome in early March for meetings with Caritas on peace and reconciliation efforts. The fighting between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has killed tens of thousands of people since 1983, when the Tamil rebels demanded autonomy for areas in northern and eastern Sri Lanka.

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