Sri Lanka and the Commonwealth

I am grateful for the chance to debate an important matter. What is happening at the moment in Sri Lanka is an international humanitarian crisis, and the International Red Cross says:""the humanitarian situation is deteriorating by the day."" Sri Lanka is, in many ways, a forgotten crisis. More than 3,000 people have been killed in Tamil areas of Sri Lanka since the end of January, and that is many more than the number who died in Gaza last autumn. Every day, 150,000 people are being shelled in the Sri Lankan Government's designated no-fire zone, and tens of thousands more are trapped in a thin strip of land—just 13 square miles—where the battles are taking place. Despite those huge numbers, we must not forget that this is also a deeply personal tragedy. Every Friday, I hold an advice surgery for about five hours. As is the case for many MPs, barely a week goes by without me meeting constituents who have family members back home in the Tamil region of Sri Lanka. More than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict; the numbers are so big that the crisis is almost impossible to comprehend. Each week, I meet constituents face to face who tell me their stories and fears for their families, which makes a complex international crisis very personal.