Displaced International Urges Urgent Regional and Global Action for Families Displaced by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka

Displaced International (DI) stands in urgent solidarity with the government and people of Sri Lanka, especially the tens of thousands of families uprooted by Cyclone Ditwah. The storm’s floods and mudslides have killed more than 130 people, left well over 170 missing, and pushed nearly 78,000 people into almost 800 government-run shelters, with several hundred thousand affected across the country. Behind these numbers are parents carrying children through chest-deep water; older persons and people with disabilities stranded without assistance; and families who escaped with nothing but the clothes they were wearing as their homes, savings, and small businesses were washed away.

Drawing on his experience as a former diplomat to Sri Lanka and former Director-General of the South Asia Cooperative Environment Program (SACEP), Displaced International’s President and Founder, Ambassador Ashraf Haidari, notes that Sri Lanka welcomed Afghans fleeing war and uncertainty, and that he has seen firsthand the warmth and resilience of Sri Lankan communities. He also warns that Cyclone Ditwah is part of a wider regional pattern in which more than half of all South Asians—around 750 million people—have been affected by at least one climate-related disaster over the past two decades, and in which tens of millions more have been hit by repeated floods and storms in just the last few years.

“Sri Lanka opened its doors to many Afghans when our own country was in turmoil,” he recalls. “To see Sri Lankan families now sleeping on classroom floors, separated from loved ones and unsure what tomorrow will bring, is deeply personal to me as a former refugee and as a friend of this beautiful country. But Cyclone Ditwah also shows how dangerously exposed South Asia is to the climate crisis: storms are growing more intense, coastlines and river basins more fragile, and it is always the poorest who pay the highest price. No family should face this kind of loss alone. The region must work together—sharing data, expertise, and resources—and the wider world must back that cooperation with serious, long-term support for climate adaptation and resilience, so that communities from Colombo to Kabul are better protected from the next disaster.”

Displaced Families at the Center of this Crisis

Cyclone Ditwah is first and foremost a displacement emergency. Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Centre reports that tens of thousands have been evacuated into temporary shelters—from schools and religious buildings to hastily arranged camps—while many more are staying with relatives or host families in overcrowded conditions. For these uprooted communities, the most urgent needs include:

• Safe, dignified shelter: Many families are sleeping on classroom floors, in corridors, or in makeshift tents, often without adequate privacy or protection from the elements. Over 15,000 houses have been destroyed or badly damaged, leaving thousands with no home to return to.

• Clean water, food, and basic supplies: Damage to power lines and water systems has disrupted access to electricity and safe water across large areas, increasing the risk of waterborne disease. Families urgently need safe drinking water, cooked food or dry rations, bedding, clothing, and hygiene kits.

• Health care, psychosocial support, and protection: Many displaced people live with injuries, chronic illnesses, or disabilities, and have lost access to regular treatment and medications. Children and adults alike are experiencing acute stress and trauma after witnessing sudden destruction and loss. In crowded shelters, women, girls, unaccompanied children, older persons, and people with disabilities face heightened risks of neglect, exploitation, and violence.

• Livelihoods and education: Farmers have seen fields and livestock destroyed; informal workers and small business owners have lost tools, stock, and premises. As schools are closed or used as shelters, children’s education is interrupted, with displaced students at particular risk of dropping out.

Unless the humanitarian response puts these displaced communities at the center, Cyclone Ditwah will leave a long shadow of deepened poverty, social fracture, and preventable suffering.

Call for Regional and Global Humanitarian Action

The Government of Sri Lanka has declared a state of emergency and appealed for international support, while regional partners have begun dispatching search-and-rescue teams and relief supplies. This initial response must quickly evolve into a coordinated, adequately funded humanitarian effort focused on displaced communities and led in genuine partnership with local actors. Displaced International therefore calls for the following:

1. Rapid, flexible funding for life-saving support

• Bilateral donors, multilateral agencies, and global humanitarian funds should release immediate, flexible financing to scale up life-saving assistance in shelters and host communities.
• Funding should prioritize safe shelter, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), food assistance, essential health care, and protection services—especially for women and girls, children, older persons, and people with disabilities.

2. Regional solidarity in action

• South Asian and Indian Ocean states should rapidly deploy additional relief supplies, emergency medical teams, and technical expertise, building on the first waves of assistance already on the ground.
• Regional mechanisms and institutions should help coordinate logistics—transport, airlift, pre-positioned stocks, and engineering support—to reach isolated communities, restore access roads, and reinforce critical infrastructure.

3. Empowerment of local responders and communities

• International actors should channel resources to local authorities, civil society organizations, faith-based groups, and community networks that are closest to affected families and best placed to identify those most in need.
• Support should include training and resources for community-led protection mechanisms, including safe spaces for women and children, accessible complaint and feedback systems, and community-based psychosocial support.

4. Linking relief to recovery and climate-resilient development

• Rebuilding must go beyond restoring what was lost. Recovery planning should integrate disaster-resilient housing, safer land-use planning, and strengthened early warning systems, particularly for communities in high-risk flood and landslide zones.
• International climate and development funds should work closely with Sri Lankan institutions to ensure that investments in reconstruction also support long-term adaptation—so that families displaced today are not displaced again by the next storm.

Our Enduring Commitment

As an organization founded by people with lived experience of displacement, Displaced International knows that the hardest days often begin after the media attention fades. We affirm our solidarity with all those displaced by Cyclone Ditwah and commit to advocating for a response that is humane, inclusive, and sustained. We urge governments, institutions, and individuals across the region and around the world to act swiftly and generously—so that every family forced from their home by Cyclone Ditwah has the shelter, support, and hope they need to rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.