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No holding back on emergency aid to tsunami victims, says UNHCR
28 Dec 2004 The UN refugee agency is considering putting at the disposal of the UN country team in Sri Lanka more relief supplies from its warehouses in other regions for the tens of thousands of people affected by Sunday's earthquake and tidal waves. UNHCR staff in the region are also helping in the UN-wide relief effort. -
Sri Lanka's tidal wave victims to receive UNHCR aid
27 Dec 2004 The UN refugee agency in Sri Lanka is opening up its local relief stockpiles to deliver immediate emergency assistance to victims of Sunday's devastating tsunami, which left thousands of dead, injured and displaced on the island. Dutch NGO Stichting Vluchteling has agreed to help with the cost of relief items. -
Feature: Sri Lanka makes citizens out of stateless tea pickers
7 Oct 2004 Some 200,000 stateless people - descendants of Indians imported to work on tea estates - have received citizenship in Sri Lanka under a law passed last year. Generations of tea pickers who had been denied of the right to own property or work officially can now enjoy more choices for a better life. -
Ukraine, Sri Lanka provide models for solving statelessness
6 Oct 2004 UN refugee agency chief Ruud Lubbers has reminded states that there are several million stateless people in the world today and introduced Ukraine and Sri Lanka as positive examples of countries that had found resolutions for the huge and hidden problem. -
UNHCR calls for renewed attention to plight of displaced Sri Lankans
29 Apr 2004 Some 360,000 uprooted Sri Lankans have returned home since a cease-fire between Tamil Tiger rebels and the Colombo government took effect two years ago. As the nation awaits the resumption of the stalled peace talks, UNHCR is urging renewed focus on the plight of hundreds of thousands of people who remain displaced in their country. -
Sri Lankans displaced in rebel fighting return home
13 Apr 2004 Several thousand displaced Sri Lankans return home after factional fighting among rebels of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) eased. The UN refugee agency expresses hopes that negotiations to end two decades of civil strife in Sri Lanka will continue between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. -
UNHCR applauds Sri Lanka's move to recognise stateless Tamils
4 Dec 2003 The UN refugee agency is supporting a 10-day programme for some 300,000 stateless Tamils of Indian origin to apply for citizenship in Sri Lanka, where they have lived for generations with little legal protection and basic rights. -
Jolie appeals for aid to help Sri Lanka's recovery
17 Apr 2003 UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has urged the international community to contribute to Sri Lanka's recovery process after meeting with recent returnees, internally displaced people and other victims of the country's 20-year civil war. -
UNHCR in talks on Sri Lankans uprooted by civil war
16 Jan 2003 The UN refugee agency is getting ready to help return home more than 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamils driven from their country by almost two decades of civil war, but officials warn that proper conditions for return have yet to be created.