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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: UN chief visits Sri Lankan war refugees By JOHN HEILPRIN,Associated Press Writer AP - Sunday, May 24 MANIK FARM, Sri Lanka - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with ethnic Tamil war refugees in northern Sri Lanka on Saturday and appealed to the government to quickly improve conditions for the hundreds of thousands of civilians held in overwhelmed displacement camps. ADVERTISEMENT Ban also called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to quickly address the grievances of the country's minorities in the wake of the government's defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels after a quarter century of civil war. Nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians were displaced and sent to government-run camps in the final months of fighting as the military crushed the rebels and their dream of a separate state for the Tamil minority. Ban toured a section of the massive Manik Farm camp, went into people's tents to see their living conditions, spoke to displaced people and met with wounded in a hospital. Some of those he spoke to said they had no rice, cooking oil or sugar. Some complained they were not allowed to leave the camps and others appealed for help in locating family members who had been detained by the government on suspicion they were rebels, Ban said. "It was a very sobering visit, very sad, very moving," he said. "But the government lacks resources. There is a wide gap between what is needed and what is available." Ban called on the government to give aid groups unfettered access to the camps and welcomed Rajapaksa's promise to resettle the bulk of the displaced by the end of the year. "We will try to work hard to make sure that promise is realized," he said as he toured the vast expanse of white tents neatly lined up in rows on dirt paths. Roads between the tents are crammed with people, and barbed wire fences encircle the area, keeping the tens of thousands of civilians from getting out. Soldiers are stationed across the camp. Men and women were scooping water from a well and bathing awkwardly in the open air, trying to maintain some privacy. Aid groups have appealed to the government to allow the displaced more freedom, but military officials say it is too dangerous to let them out because rebels could be hiding among the civilians. Mark Cutts, a senior U.N. humanitarian officer, said the Manik Farm camp was erected almost overnight and is the world's largest displacement camp. "There's 200,000 people here. This is a very overcrowded place, a very big place, and there's a lot of work still to be done. Conditions, you can see, they're very basic," he said. Ban later flew by helicopter over the wasteland along the northeastern coast where the final battles raged. The earth was scorched and the area was pocked with craters. Cars and trucks were overturned and bunkers were dug outside tents clustered in the area. Human rights groups and international officials accused the government of heavily shelling the area, densely populated with civilians, in the last weeks of the war. The government denied using heavy weapons. The U.N. chief then flew to the central city of Kandy and met with Rajapaksa. Before that meeting, the nation's top Buddhist monks presented the president with the country's highest honor at a temple reputed to house Buddha's tooth. Rajapaksa pledged to ensure that the nation will never be divided again. "We shall from now meet all such needs to build a just and free society," he said. The Tamils, 18 percent of the population, claim systematic discrimination and harassment by the Sinhalese majority. "Now that the long decades of conflict are over, it is time for Sri Lankans to heal the wounds and unite without regards to ethnic and religious identity," Ban said at the airport early Saturday on his arrival. The U.N. chief's impressions will be of concern to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has planned a special session on Sri Lanka on Monday at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. "I'll convey the concerns and aspirations and expectations of the international community to Sri Lankan leadership," Ban said. "Wherever there are serious violations of human rights as well as international humanitarian law, proper investigation should be instituted." According to private U.N. documents, at least 7,000 civilians were killed in the final months of fighting in the war. Ban was among many world leaders who had called on the government to halt its offensive to safeguard civilians. Those calls were ignored. Ban's visit put him in a delicate position between offering assistance to a war-torn nation and appearing to be part of Rajapaksa's victory dance. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: Asia Pacific Sri Lanka war zone scene of devastationAP - Sunday, May 24 French 'Prophet' leads race at CannesAFP - Sunday, May 24 Former South Korean president dead, leaves suicide noteAFP - Sunday, May 24 UN chief face-to-face with Sri Lanka refugee despairAFP - Sunday, May 24 Pakistani troops fight Taliban in Swat valleyReuters - Sunday, May 24 Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed Obama signs credit card reforms Smokers duped by light cigarettes: US court Vitamin D boosts brain power in middle-aged men Popular cereal is a drug, US food watchdog says Health chiefs warn against 'sneaky' flu virus View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved. 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