My Lords, does the Minister accept that neither terrorism nor the military action by either party will resolve the present Crisis in Sri Lanka, and that the only valid process is a political one?

As chair of the all-party group on Tamils, I have had the opportunity to meet many Tamil MPs and leaders to hear about the tragedy of the Tamil people's plight, and to discuss the ongoing Crisis in Sri Lanka with Members from all sides of this House.

Sadly, the media have not taken much interest in the ongoing humanitarian Crisis in Sri Lanka, so it falls to us to draw attention to it.

As friends in all parts of the House have said, there is now a Crisis in Sri Lanka - a catastrophe before our eyes in a fantastically talented, beautiful, cultured place.

The Statement is as follows: "Mr Speaker, with your permission I will make a Statement about the civilian Crisis in Sri Lanka.

With your permission, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement about the civilian Crisis in Sri Lanka.

I thank the Minister for what he has done so far, including taking my call at 5 am on the current humanitarian Crisis in Sri Lanka when he was in Indonesia.

We welcome the important step taken by the Security Council yesterday in issuing its first official written statement on the worsening humanitarian Crisis in Sri Lanka.

He has done a lot, although he has often been checked at the United Nations, to focus international attention on the Crisis in Sri Lanka, and I hope he will take the message from across this House that we support his calls for unfettered access for international agencies to what have been the conflict zones and to internally displaced persons camps.