Sri Lanka Asks Relief Groups to Reduce Operations

The government of Sri Lanka wants international aid organizations to scale back operations on the island nation following the end of its 25-year civil war, reports Reuters.

Sri Lanka has come under international pressure to ease relief groups’ access to camps housing hundreds of thousands of people displaced by fighting, which ended in May. But Mahinda Samarasinghe, minister of disaster management and human rights, said the country’s “challenges are now different” and that services can be provided by domestic operations.

The International Office of the Red Cross said it was closing some of its Sri Lanka offices following the directive but will maintain a dialogue with the government on humanitarian concerns.