"You have a very large population of people stuck inside a combat area serving as a buffer between an impending government assault and Tamil Tiger resistance.

VOA: standard.2009.04.26

Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona says that the Tamil Tigers are deliberately not allowing civilians to leave the war zone and are using them as a buffer against attacks by the military.

VOA: standard.2009.03.17

U.N.officials say the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have ignored calls to release tens of thousands of civilians they are using as a "buffer" between them and the military in the combat zone.

VOA: standard.2009.05.11

They are the nurseries of the ocean, where many species of fish and shrimp breed and serve as a buffer against coastal erosion in a region where much of the population livesin low-lying areas.

VOA: standard.2010.03.29