Akashi satisfied over progress at IDP villages

The Foreign Ministry said yesterday that visiting Japanese Special Envoy Yasushi Akashi had expressed his satisfaction over the progress he witnessed at the IDP welfare villages in the North, since his last visit to Sri Lanka.

The Ministry in a statement said that Akashi at a discussion with the Foreign Minister and other officials had said that normalizing the living conditions of the IDPs was a daunting task for any country, and in this context, Sri Lanka had been coping with the humanitarian situation with tenacity and sincerity.

Minister Rohitha Bogollagama, while acknowledging the existence of shortcomings in the welfare villages and IDP camps, had emphasized that the Government was taking concerted action to improve the facilities and services in these locations.

During discussions he had also pointed out that the welfare villages were under civilian control. Referring to the presence of the military, the Minister had said that their role was to provide security to the camps and to clear and build basic infrastructure to accommodate the displaced persons. Read more ...