Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin has called for an 'immediate' ceasefire in the Tamil area of north Sri Lanka where an estimated 14,000 civilians have fled the fighting in recent days.
Mr Martin called on both parties to the conflict to cease hostilities without delay, to allow the local population to escape from the fighting and to access medical and humanitarian assistance:
"I am deeply concerned by the plight of the war-ravaged Tamil population in the north of Sri Lanka, who are the innocent victims of the conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the rebel LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) Large numbers of men, women and children have been subjected to indiscriminate bombardment by government forces, while there is clear evidence that the LTTE has been blocking their escape and using them as human shields."
"Such blatant disregard for the lives of innocent civilians is indefensible and constitutes a serious breach of international humanitarian law," he said.
What is now one of Asia's longest-running wars has killed at least 70,000 people on the battlefield and in Tiger attacks outside the northern and eastern areas they had controlled and tried to build as a separate state for the Tamil ethnic minority.