The United Nations' top humanitarian official on Tuesday said that Sri Lanka faces massive challenges in meeting an unfolding humanitarian crisis. U.N. Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes said Sri Lanka is trying to cope with “what amounts to two quite distinct crises.” Holmes was speaking after touring camps for people displaced by fighting between government forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the island nation's north. “There are still tens of thousands of people trapped on a small patch of territory in the north, with the LTTE refusing to let them leave, and with fighting continuing,” Holmes said. “The second crisis is the swollen camps that are filling up with 200,000 people who fled the fighting, many in very poor condition, with more likely on the way soon,” he added. More than 100,000 people have escaped from the combat zone over the past week.
