Sri Lanka IDP's

[springm]

IDP is an euphemism, as an internally displaced person in this case means someone who had to flee the combat zones of the fight between the Sri Lanka forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, vulgo terrorists. I had the opportunity to accompagny UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) officials visiting camps and IDP's who are now returning to what is left of their homes.

My blog entries on spring2life had the very great honor of being mentioned as 'random excellence' on the well-renowned blog The Online Photographer

#1

Young man in an IDP camp. There he enjoys safety from the regular soldiers looking for "freedom fighters" and "freedom fighters" looking for (forced) recruits

#2

Young girl in an IDP camp. Big shelters with several single rooms for whole families have to provide security against harrassment.

#3

IDPs with their belongings offloaded. From here they have to walk to their houses

Regards - Markus

[alfake]

Markus: As I have written in another post (just before seeing this post of you), your pictures are not only beautiful and technically impeccable, but also show a lot of love and respect for their subject. (And that’s the highest praise I could think of for a photo.)
Alfonso

[Birma]

Very interesting blog and very moving pictures - thank you for sharing them with us Markus. A very powerful use of photographs.

[Dr. Harout]

People suffer because of some bastard politicians...
Most of us don't even have a clue of their feelings...
The shots speak for themselves.
I join and second each word Alfonso said.

[springm]

@Alfake, Birma, Dr. Harout: Thanks you very much for your encouraging words.

In the situations I have met, probably many of us would react similarly and make use of their skill, in our case photography. It's learning by doing, and besides the day job work it gave me good opportunities to improve my capabilities for the sake of bearing witness about the situation of those victims of tsunami and civil war.

Markus