Sri Lanka
Decades of violent conflict have killed more than 100,000 people, left many more injured and homeless, and severely damaged the economy
After more than 25 years of fighting between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the government, the conflict appears to have ended in a victory for the government forces in May 2009.
The scars of civil war run deep, and law and order is yet to be completely restored. Sri Lankans are still “disappearing” and violence often goes unpunished.
The country’s official classification as lower middle income masks huge inequalities. Half the population live below the poverty line, and there has been a fall in state support for education, health, and other social services.
We are supporting those affected by the recently-ended war through our Sri Lanka Crisis Appeal . Our partner Caritas Sri Lanka is providing emergency support for displaced civilians to help them return home and rebuild their lives.
Our partners are also promoting lasting solutions to the underlying problems that fuelled the conflict.
![]() | Give to the Sri Lanka Crisis Appeal Make a donation to help the poorest people of Sri Lanka - please support our charity work there. A gift from you really will make a difference to thousands of people |
![]() | Sri Lanka: Bishops say all must be allowed home Bishop John Rawsthorne of Sheffield and Bishop John Arnold of Westminster call for Tamils displaced by civil war to be allowed to return home after visiting camps in Sri Lanka |
![]() | CAFOD honours humanitarian workers on world's first Humanitarian Day Thursday 19 August 2010 is the first annual World Humanitarian Day. Here are just three of the many people who make our humanitarian and emergency response work possible |
![]() | Sri Lanka: One year after the war Silvaraja was only 16-years-old when he was abducted by militants on his way home from school in eastern Sri Lanka. A year after the conflict our partners are helping people like him return to a normal life |
![]() | The forgotten war of Sri Lanka CAFOD's Mary Lucas highlights the cause of the growing numbers of civilians caught in the crossfire of northern Sri Lanka’s escalating conflict |

![Our partner, Caritas provided food, water, and other essentials to camp residents in Batticaloa when they were displaced by fighting further north [David Snyder]](/var/storage/images/about-us/where-we-work/sri-lanka/images/man-in-camp/1179312-1-eng-GB/man-in-camp_1column50_12space_landscape.jpg)
![Tamil women and girls hold plastic cups in a temporary refugee camp in Vavuniya, northern Sri Lanka [REUTERS/Nir Elias courtesy of www.alertnet.org]](/var/storage/images/where-we-work/sri-lanka/images/girls-queue-for-water/1029302-1-eng-GB/girls-queue-for-water_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg)
![Young Tamil boys stand with other civilians behind a barbed-wire fence in the Menikfam Vanni refugee camp located near the town of Chettekulam in northern Sri Lanka April 29, 2009 [REUTERS/Stringer, courtesy alertnet.org]](/var/storage/images/emergencies/sri-lanka-2009-05-19/refugee-camp/1045604-1-eng-GB/refugee-camp_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg)

![Silvaraja and his family will receive a new house from Caritas following the conflict in Sri Lanka [Lucy Morris]](/var/storage/images/about-us/where-we-work/sri-lanka/images/silvaraja-and-his-family/1226108-1-eng-GB/silvaraja-and-his-family_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg)
![Schoolgirls in the southern Indian city of Chennai form a human chain to protest against the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka, October 24, 2008 [REUTERS/Babu (INDIA), courtesy www.alertnet.org]](/var/storage/images/about-cafod/where-we-work/sri-lanka/images/schoolgirls-form-a-human-chain/930184-1-eng-GB/schoolgirls-form-a-human-chain_0column75_06space_landscape.jpg)

