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May 13 in Mullivaikkal
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On May 13, international attention intensified as major world leaders, the United Nations, and diplomatic actors issued urgent statements regarding the escalating humanitarian crisis in northern Sri Lanka.
United States President Barack Obama made a public statement from the White House calling for urgent international action. He urged the Sri Lankan government to halt what he described as “indiscriminate shelling,” which he stated had already resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths, emphasising the need to immediately protect innocent lives.
In a separate appeal, LTTE international representative Selvarasa Pathmanathan called for immediate international intervention. He described conditions in the conflict zone and displacement camps as catastrophic, alleging that civilians were suffering extreme physical and psychological trauma. He accused the Sri Lankan government and military of engaging in genocide and urged the United Nations and global leaders to intervene even outside the Security Council framework, arguing that urgent humanitarian principles should override political constraints.
The United Nations Security Council issued its first official press statement on the situation. Members expressed grave concern over the worsening humanitarian crisis in north-eastern Sri Lanka, particularly reports of large-scale civilian casualties in recent days. The Council called for urgent action by all parties to ensure the protection and safety of civilians, marking an initial formal acknowledgment of the crisis at the Security Council level.
On the ground, violence against civilian infrastructure continued. A hospital previously affected by shelling was struck again in what reports described as a second attack within 24 hours. The strike reportedly killed more than 100 civilians, including children, medical staff, a volunteer doctor, and an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker. The ICRC confirmed the death of its employee, Sivakurunathan Majuran, along with his mother, and stated that the facility had been hit multiple times by shellfire. In a separate incident, at least 39 female patients were reportedly killed in an attack on a counselling centre for mentally ill women located within the conflict zone.
Diplomatic discussions were also ongoing internationally. A leaked United States embassy cable indicated that British Special Envoy for Sri Lanka Des Browne informed diplomats in New Delhi that there was limited expectation that the situation on the ground could be altered in the immediate term, suggesting that events over the following days were unlikely to be reversed through diplomatic intervention alone.
Obama's statement on situation in Sri Lanka
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