Chris Carter

1 July 2009 - The New Zealand Government needs to have a stronger voice in championing the cause of the 250,000 Tamil civilians currently being held in Northern Sri Lanka following the successful campaign against the LTTE by the Sri Lankan military.

"Foreign Minister Murray McCully and Prime Minister John Key must add their personal support to that of Britain, and many other nations, who are calling for international aid agencies and global media organisations to be allowed access to refugee camps," said Labour's Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Chris Carter.

"The world needs to be assured that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is sincere in his claims that all efforts will be made to address the immediate humanitarian needs of displaced people and that the human rights of all of Sri Lanka's people will be respected. The presence of international agencies and access to the region by international media will provide that assurance.

"I am really disappointed that New Zealand has been largely silent about the desperate plight of the refugees in Sri Lanka," said Mr Carter.

"Last year Helen Clark and I met in Oslo with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and we discussed Norway's active involvement in Sri Lankan peace making efforts. Mr Stoltenberg asked if New Zealand would consider joining Norway and Iceland in their mediation roles in Sri Lanka. From being considered a potential partner in the peace process in Sri Lanka we have become, under a new National-ACT Government, merely a silent witness.

"Twenty six years of conflict in Sri Lankan has seen the deaths of over 72,000 people already. With at least quarter of a million refugees now crammed into camps the world cannot stand by and see thousands more die.

"New Zealand may be a small country but we have a moral authority based on a long tradition as a principled defender of human rights and world peace. The National-ACT Government needs to show New Zealanders and the world that we care about the desperate plight of the refugees in Northern Sri Lanka."