Children in Manik Farm camps suffer due to malnutrition: Sarvodaya

[TamilNet, Friday, 26 June 2009, 12:20 GMT]
“About thirty thousand to thirty five thousand children are sheltered in Manik Farm. Many of them are suffering from diseases and some still suffer from injuries sustained in the military operations. Fifteen to twenty percent of them are also suffering from acute malnutrition,” media reports in Colombo said quoting Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne, the executive director of Colombo based NGO Sarvodaya Shramadana Sangamaya.

It can take a few weeks to few months for these children to recover, Dr. Vinya has told media.

“The international standard is for 20 people to use one toilet, but in Manik Farm about 70 people are sharing one toilet,” he said.

Around five thousand internally displaced children from Vanni and sheltered in camps which are described as internment camps fenced with barbed wire are found to be malnourished, according to a survey conducted by a non-governmental organization.

Sri Lankan Health Ministry says it has been working together with Sarvodaya, UNICEF and others to improve the conditions in the internment camps.