ICRC News 11 / 22-Mar-01


** SHORT MENU....

Solomon Islands: A logistical challenge
Following surveys late last year to assess the needs of people displaced
by fighting, ICRC staff last week carried out a relief distribution for
some 1,000 families living in two provinces of the Solomon Islands:
Temotu, about 700 kilometres east of the capital Honiara, and Rennell and
Bellona to the south.

Sri Lanka: Farmers released
Four farmers from Padaviya, in Anuradhapura district, were handed over
to the ICRC staff in the Wanni area on 15 March after being held for 15
months by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Sudan: ICRC reunites mother and son  
"Mama, it's me!" exclaimed Mr Daau when he saw the 82-year-old blind woman
waiting for him in a reception room at Khartoum International Airport.


** STORIES IN FULL...

Solomon Islands
A logistical challenge

Following surveys late last year to assess the needs of people displaced
by fighting, ICRC staff last week carried out a relief distribution for
some 1,000 families living in two provinces of the Solomon Islands:
Temotu, about 700 kilometres east of the capital Honiara, and Rennell and
Bellona to the south.

To help displaced people regain their self-sufficiency, tarpaulins,
jerrycans, fishing lines and hooks, seeds and agricultural tools were
packaged into family kits and transported by ship to these isolated
islands (the voyage to Temotu takes over 60 hours).

The only way to get around the small island of Bellona is on foot or on a
bicycle, and the only link with the outside world is by radio. To ensure
that the local population was informed of the relief operation, the ICRC
had it announced over the national radio service. The intended
beneficiaries were therefore on hand to collect the packages when these
were brought ashore in canoes.

James Reynolds, the ICRC's head of mission in Honiara, explained that
following the ethnic tension on Guadalcanal last year, and the resulting
closure of major places of employment, many people had been forced to
return to their home islands. The result had been a marked population
increase on certain islands, and this was placing a strain on local
resources.

Further information: James Reynolds, ICRC Honiara, tel. ++ (677) 27397


Sri Lanka 
Farmers released

Four farmers from Padaviya, in Anuradhapura district, were handed over to
the ICRC staff in the Wanni area on 15 March after being held for 15
months by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). ICRC delegates
escorted them across the lines to a joyous reunion with their families in
their home village. Earlier, on 2 March, two fishermen from Vavuniya
district, detained by the LTTE since last December, were similarly
released to the ICRC in the Wanni and reunited with their families. The
ICRC has been working since 1989 in Sri Lanka, where it currently has 48
expatriates and 300 national staff operating out of its delegation in
Colombo and its 12 offices in the north and east of the country.

Further information: Harasha Gunawardene, ICRC Colombo,
tel. ++ 941 503 346


Sudan 
ICRC reunites mother and son  

"Mama, it's me!" exclaimed Mr Daau when he saw the 82-year-old blind woman
waiting for him in a reception room at Khartoum International Airport. He
immediately recognized the mother from whom he had been separated 17 years
previously, when the internal conflict broke out in southern Sudan.

At the time his mother, Mrs Apiok, had taken refuge in a camp for the
displaced in Maridi, in an area controlled by the Sudanese People's
Liberation Army. Her son later approached the ICRC to try and get in touch
with her, and soon they were able to communicate by means of Red Cross
messages.

Recently Mrs Apiok found herself in a very difficult situation, having no
one to take care of her in Maridi. The ICRC contacted all the authorities
concerned to request permission to reunite her with her son, and received
a favourable response. On 17 March, Mrs Apiok boarded an ICRC plane which
took her from Maridi to Lokichokio and then on to Khartoum, where her son
was waiting impatiently to see her after all these years. Neither of them
could hide the tears of joy once they were in each other's arms.

Further information: Loukas Petridis, ICRC Khartoum, tel. ++249 11 476465


During the weekend of 24 - 25 March 2001, for all information please call
the press officer on duty Antonella Notari, on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 80