23 August, 2006 - Published 17:34 GMT

180,000 'displaced' in Sri Lanka

The United Nations refugee agency says that nearly one-hundred-and-eighty thousand people in Sri Lanka have been displaced by violence since April this year.

The UNHCR said most of those affected were from the north and east of the island.

The agency's figures show that the recent escalation in the fighting between government forces and Tamil Tiger rebels in the Jaffna peninsula has affected nearly forty-four thousand people.

48,810 IDPs are in Trincomalee district: 24,854 refugees from 6575 families are in Kantale. Most of these refugees are from Muttur, according to the report.

It says 37,738 refugees are in camps in Batticaloa district.

The report has admitted that the figures may be slightly higher ‘due to a small number of multiple registrations’.

The UNHCR last week urged both the Government and the Tamil Tigers to allow relief workers to visit refugee camps to provide relief aid to the displaced.