Danielle Vella

Thanks to pressure from the Diocese of Mannar, today the army is moving around 800 people in the north-west of the island, where large-scale army operations are under way against the Tamil rebels. In just a week, 4,000 displaced people poured into Murunkan, where they are taking shelter in a Salesian hostel, schools and host families.

A year after the disappearance of the parish priest and his assistant, the diocese today remembered their courage and altruism with prayers and fasting. A book about what happened has been published. In Jaffna, there have been more than 560 cases of unclarified “disappearances” from December 2005 to April 2007.

20 August marks the first anniversary of the disappearance of a Catholic priest and his assistant in Jaffna. The Apostolic Nuncio says the investigations promised by the authorities are proceeding slowly, and “one can only entrust them into the hands of the Lord”. There is the “cosmetic” commitment of the government to check the increase in disappearances, a violation for which Sri Lanka ranks second only to Iraq.

Fr Jim Brown and his assistant went missing in Allaipiddy exactly six months ago. The authorities have acted under pressure from the local Church and the Nunciature, who have long been calling for the truth about what happened. The commission started its work a few days ago and the priest’s is the sixth case on the list.

The abduction of a student of Jaffna University, freed after seven days of torture, has threatened plans to resume classes that have been suspended for five months. Courses should have reopened on 22 January but “at the moment it would be impossible”.

The air raid on Mannar district has left 15 people, including seven children, dead. The United Nations are urged the rebels and government to go for a “cessation of hostilities”. The stricken settlement was home to several Catholic families and the local bishop has written to the president to inform him what really took place: an attack on a civilian target.

The Church in the north-east is “worried” about an increase in the forced abductions of young boys and girls. Youngsters are so afraid they are not going to school or even to mass. In areas controlled by the army, disappearances and murders by “unknown” forces abound.

The Jesuit Refugee Service has drawn attention to the tragic situation prevailing in the north and east of the country. The response of the international community to violence and hunger is "press releases".

Bishop Savundaranayagam has sent an urgent telegram to President Rajapakse calling for the re-opening of the A-9 highway to allow the delivery of necessary supplies to the worn out population of the peninsula. In Jaffna, people are queuing for food and kerosene as prices of goods continue to rise.

Tomorrow the diocese of Jaffna in the north will recall the priest who disappeared in August together with his assistant. The Justice and Peace Commission has sent its fourth appeal to the president, hoping that it will not fall on deaf ears as all other petitions have.

The two priests remain anonymous for security reasons. One escaped thanks to a miracle: the people's intervention proved crucial as they warned him of the danger. The Justice and Peace Commission said their cases, and the disappearance of Fr Jim Brown, could be a warning to the Church to stop its work for the civilian population.

In an urgent appeal, the agency said the Catholic priest and his aide, who disappeared on 20 August, may be victims of 'disappearance' by state agents. The military blocked a peaceful procession of Catholics in Jaffna in support of Fr Jim