Sri Lanka eases restrictions at biggest camp: U.N.

A mother walks with her children as other civilians stand in line to receive food at the Manik Farm refugee camp located on the outskirts of the northern Sri Lankan town of Vavuniya May 26, 2009.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's government has relaxed restrictions on motor vehicles in the country's largest refugee camp that had hampered aid distribution, though the needs of people there remain acute, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently visited the Manik Farm refugee camp, where some 220,000 people displaced by the fighting between Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces in northeastern Sri Lanka have been relocated.

A 25-year war ended earlier this month with the Tigers' defeat.

The Sri Lanka government had banned the use of motor vehicles by U.N. and other aid agencies at the camp, citing concerns that some rebels might try to escape in or under the vehicles. U.N. officials had complained that the restrictions were crippling aid distribution at the camp.

"An interim measure has been agreed whereby aid agency vehicles including trucks can now travel in and out of Manik Farm zones, only not in convoy and without agency flags," U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe told reporters.

She added that the military had announced it was leaving the camps and would hand over control to civilian authorities.

U.N. officials had voiced concern about the military nature of Manik Farm and other refugee camps. The camps are supposed to be transitional humanitarian facilities for some 300,000 people left homeless during the final months of the war.

Residents say they are not allowed to leave the camps. The government is screening them to determine who might be former Tamil Tiger militants.

Okabe said the situation remained dire for the displaced people in northern Sri Lanka.

"Overall needs remain acute in the camps," she said. "Doctors and medical personnel and water and sanitation facilities are the greatest needs at this time."

Ban repeatedly urged the government to grant U.N. and other aid agencies immediate and unimpeded access to all refugee camps in the country. He also said Colombo lacked the necessary capacity to deal with the refugee problem.

Sri Lanka says it is in control of the refugee situation and that there is no problem with access.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)