As an individual concerned by the grave and volatile situation affecting about 2.9 million civilians in NorthEast Sri Lanka, I urge you to consider what the loss of the non-governmental infrastructural support would mean to this already suffering community.

An estimated 800,000 IDPs are already in NGO and refugee camps, being assisted in numerous ways, with food, shelter, clothing and medical supplies, because a government blockade on the only roads to and from the NorthEast has been shut down indefinitely. Even necessities are forbidden passage.

Yet, if NGO presence is withdrawn, there will be an even more far-reaching devastation of the region. NGOs in Sri Lanka are not only maintaining camps, home to hundreds of thousand of internally displaced civilians, but they are also responsible for peace monitoring, rebuilding houses, teaching in schools and orphanages, and integrating a way of living to a community that has been ravaged by two-decades long conflict.

International and internal NGOs are playing a vital role in the functioning of these peoples' lives, and the loss of this support could be detrimental. In most cases, these civilians are left with nothing and no one to turn to.

On behalf of the people suffering in NorthEast Sri Lanka, I urge you, once again, to consider the responsibilities your organization has taken on, and what it will mean if there is no one to fulfill these duties.

Thank you for you time and consideration.