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IDP camps in Sri Lanka remain off limits to media
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Sri Lanka government has denied access to the camps of IDPs in the north of the country
Hundreds of thousands of Tamils remain locked in camps almost entirely off limits to journalists, human rights investigators and political leaders., the New York Times report. The Sri Lankan government says that the people in the camps are a security risk because Tamil Tiger fighters are hiding among them but diplomats, analysts, aid workers and many Sri Lankans worry that the historic chance to finally bring to a close one of the world’s most enduring ethnic conflicts is slipping away, as the government curtails the rights of Tamil civilians in its efforts to stamp out the last remnants of the Tigers, adds the daily in a front line despatch.
“The government told these people it would look after them,” said Veerasingham Anandasangaree, a prominent Tamil politician who has been a staunch supporter of the government’s fight against the Tamil Tigers. “But instead they have locked them up like animals with no date certain of when they will be released. This is simply asking for another conflict later on down the road.”
The report adds that children are attending schools, and health centers and hospitals are helping check the spread of infectious diseases. But that has done little to tamp down the impatience of those living here. The screening process has lasted longer than most people had imagined.
Mr. Rajapaksa said that he had ordered that 80 percent of the displaced should be resettled by the end of the year. But government officials say this goal may be tough to meet, because many of the land mines across much of the north have not been cleared.
“The government told these people it would look after them,” said Veerasingham Anandasangaree, a prominent Tamil politician who has been a staunch supporter of the government’s fight against the Tamil Tigers. “But instead they have locked them up like animals with no date certain of when they will be released. This is simply asking for another conflict later on down the road.”
The report adds that children are attending schools, and health centers and hospitals are helping check the spread of infectious diseases. But that has done little to tamp down the impatience of those living here. The screening process has lasted longer than most people had imagined.
Mr. Rajapaksa said that he had ordered that 80 percent of the displaced should be resettled by the end of the year. But government officials say this goal may be tough to meet, because many of the land mines across much of the north have not been cleared.
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