Refugees Sri Lanka

A new plot to smuggle up to 250 Tamil refugees from West Germany to Canada by ship has been uncovered, police and Tamil sources in Hamburg said. They said that Bonn has alerted Canada to the plan but that the organizers might still go ahead with their operation from another European port, possibly Dutch. Last August, 155 Tamils, fleeing ethnic violence in Sri Lanka, were set adrift in lifeboats by a West German ship off Newfoundland. They are now living in eastern Canada.

British customs officers found 26 distressed Sri Lankan asylum seekers squashed into the back of a van that arrived at the southeastern English port of Dover by ferry from France, police said. The 23 men and three women were found coughing and in "poor condition" and were taken to Kent and Canterbury Hospital in nearby Canterbury for treatment. Four were kept in the hospital for observation; the rest were discharged and were being held and questioned by immigration officials.

Hundreds of thousands of Tamils are fleeing the northern Sri Lankan war zone as the military bombs and shells civilian areas, a clergyman said Thursday. The armed forces Sunday launched "Operation Leap Forward," aimed at clearing the Jaffna peninsula of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam guerrillas who are fighting for a homeland in the north and east of the island.

Artillery shells fell around an ancient Dutch-built church filled with refugees in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 35 villagers and injuring 80, amid fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, a church official said. Bishop Raiaippu Joseph said more than 3,500 people had taken shelter in the church compound to escape the fighting. Sri Lankan troops had launched an offensive to retake parts of the Madhu church area that rebels had seized.

Artillery shells fell around an ancient Dutch-built church filled with refugees in northern Sri Lanka, killing at least 35 villagers and injuring 80, amid fighting between government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels, a church official said. Bishop Raiaippu Joseph said more than 3,500 people had taken shelter in the church compound to escape the fighting. Sri Lankan troops had launched an offensive to retake parts of the Madhu church area that rebels had seized.

A boat carrying ethnic Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka's civil war overturned Thursday off the north coast of the island nation and 165 people were feared dead, the military said. Intercepted radio messages from Tamil rebels indicated 95 bodies had been recovered, military officials said. Seventy people were missing, including 22 children, the officials said.

Several hundred thousand civilians have fled their homes for refugee centers in the northern Jaffna Peninsula as fighting between Indian army troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas continued for the fifth straight day, Indian diplomats reported here Wednesday. An Indian military advance on the city of Jaffna, the main stronghold of the Tiger guerrillas, appeared to slow down in heavy rains Wednesday.

British customs officers found 26 distressed Sri Lankan asylum seekers squashed into the back of a van that arrived at the southeastern English port of Dover by ferry from France, police said. The 23 men and three women were found coughing and in "poor condition" and were taken to Kent and Canterbury Hospital in nearby Canterbury for treatment. Four were kept in the hospital for observation; the rest were discharged and were being held and questioned by immigration officials.

Tamil rebels Saturday hurled hand grenades into a crowd of refugees on Sri Lanka's northern Jaffna peninsula, killing five people and wounding 14, the Press Trust of India said. The domestic news agency quoted an Indian official as saying the attack occurred at the Jaffna town of Chavakachcheri, where about 400 people had gathered in the main square to collect food and medicine distributed by Indian personnel.

Diplomatic Front: President Bush addressed the nation, outlining "what is at stake--what we must do together to defend civilized values around the world." He praised the American military and hailed the new level of cooperation between Washington and Moscow. Japan said it may give $2 billion to the nations hit hardest by U.N. sanctions, on top of the $1 billion aid package already promised for multinational peacekeeping forces in Saudi Arabia.

A boat carrying ethnic Tamils fleeing Sri Lanka's civil war overturned Thursday off the north coast of the island nation and 165 people were feared dead, the military said. Intercepted radio messages from Tamil rebels indicated 95 bodies had been recovered, military officials said. Seventy people were missing, including 22 children, the officials said.

Hundreds of thousands of Tamils are fleeing the northern Sri Lankan war zone as the military bombs and shells civilian areas, a clergyman said Thursday. The armed forces Sunday launched "Operation Leap Forward," aimed at clearing the Jaffna peninsula of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam guerrillas who are fighting for a homeland in the north and east of the island.

Several hundred thousand civilians have fled their homes for refugee centers in the northern Jaffna Peninsula as fighting between Indian army troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas continued for the fifth straight day, Indian diplomats reported here Wednesday. An Indian military advance on the city of Jaffna, the main stronghold of the Tiger guerrillas, appeared to slow down in heavy rains Wednesday.

The Sri Lankan government said it has released more than 1,000 people who were detained as suspected Tamil guerrillas during a recent military offensive in the northern region of the island. A spokesman said the detainees, who were cleared of charges, were flown from Colombo, the capital, to a military airfield in the Jaffna Peninsula and given transport to their homes. In Madras, an Indian government spokesman said that about 4,000 Tamil refugees fled to southern India in the last five days.