UK supports rehabilitation of ex-combatants

British High Commissioner Dr. Peter Hayes and the Head of the International Organization for Migration Mohammed Abdiker yesterday signed an agreement for approximately Rs.17 million of UK’s support towards the Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Ex-combatants in the presence of the Minister of Justice, Milinda Moragoda.

Minister welcomed the support provided by the British High Commission to the Government of Sri Lanka.

The Ministry of Justice and in particular the Commissioner General for Rehabilitation has been working closely with the International Organization for Migration to develop a community oriented demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration programme. The program focuses on strengthening capacity, support to receptor communities and an active involvement of the private sector to build sustainable solutions. Read more ...

Former LTTE child soldiers given overseas visas in Sri Lanka

A group of former LTTE child soldiers, who have undergone rehabilitation and vocational training after laying down arms, were presented with overseas work visas by Sri Lankan authorities at a ceremony held at a temple here.

Amidst chanting of religious hymns, seven young ex- LTTE cadres, in their late teens or early 20's, accepted the work permits and documents for Malaysia and received blessings from the temple priest ahead of a new beginning in their lives. Attired in jeans and sporting neat hair-cuts, the former rebels were watched by the other devotees with interest at the Vinayagar Tamil temple yesterday. Read more ...

Northern rehabilitation moves fast

Thirty-five to forty percent of the 180 day 'Wadakkin Wasantham' (Northern Spring) resettlement and rehabilitation program spearheaded under the leadership of senior Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapaksa MP has been completed, with 35 villages in Vavuniya now ready to receive IDPs for resettlement, Vavuniya GA Ms.P.S.M.Charles told the Sunday Observer. Statements relating to 100,000 prospective resettlers among the IDPs have already been forwarded to the security forces and the respective GAs for their confirmation and the resettlement process will begin immediately on receipt of the confirmations, she said.

Under the 'Wadakkin Wasantham' program IDPs will be resettled in Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar, Batticaloa and Trincomalee areas, she said.

IDPs belonging to the Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts would not be resettled immediately for reasons of their own security, she said. Read more ...

No visible progress in bringing reconciliation to SL

US Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake could be ‘way off the mark’ when he questions Sri Lanka’s progress in resettling and rehabilitating the IDPs of the North but has given the country and its political leadership something to deeply ponder over and be concerned about when he says that they are very wanting on the question of bringing reconciliation to Sri Lanka.

Ideally, there should be rapid progress in the screening of IDPs and their resettlement but this operation is fraught with risks on account of the possibility of quite a few former LTTE cadres masquerading as civilians. Admittedly, the screening process has to be carried out with considerable circumspection in view of this risk and the state could not afford to be careless on this score, lest ex-LTTE members mingle with the population segment in question and pose a future security threat to the state. Read more ...

IDPs would not be resettled until threats to their lives removed – CDS Gen. Fonseka

Resettlement of those in the welfare camps will not be haphazardly carried out although some groups demand it, Chief of the Defence Staff General Sarath Fonseka told the Mahanayake Theros of Malwatte and Asgiriya yesterday (17).

General Fonseka, after paying homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic, called on the prelate of Malwatte Most Venerable Tibbatuwawe Sri Siddhartha Sumangala Thera and on the prelate of Asgiriya most Ven. Udugama Sri Buddharakkitha Thera.

The visit marked the third month of liberating the country from LTTE terrorism.

Disclosing the current situation on the rehabilitation activities in the North General Sarath Fonseka told the prelates those in the IDP camps could not be resettled in their former homesteads because of security risks.

There are many more land-mines to be removed besides those in the welfare camps should be scanned since there are terrorists among them. At least five or six LTTE cadres are identified every week, General Fonseka said. Read more ...

IDPs rehabilitated to fit in society

The Government has taken steps to rehabilitate the people who live in IDP villages of the North and more than 10,000 people among them had been engaged in terrorist activities. The rehabilitation of former terrorist cadres was under the purview of President Mahinda Rajapaksa but now it had been brought under the Justice Minister.

R.M.Daya Ratnayake has been appointed as the Rehabilitation Director General. He said young people who were former terrorist cadres including 455 child soldiers will be rehabilitated and given the opportunity to study and sit examinations. Read more ...

Sri Lanka sets 6-month timeline

For the first time, Sri Lanka has set a six-month timeline for rehabilitating Tamils displaced by the recently ended conflict between its armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Asked when the time limit for resettling the internally displaced persons began, Minister for Foreign Affairs Rohitha Bogollagama said, “a month has gone” and wanted the global community to appreciate that the war had ended less than two months back.

“It has been eight weeks [since the war ended],” he said after emerging from a meeting with External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna, on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Mr. Bogollagama said the devolution of power to Tamils of Sri Lankan origin was part of the Constitution, and its implementation was part of the healing process, now that the more than two-decade-old conflict had ended. Read more ...

Rajapaksa: committed to reconciliation

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that his government remains committed to the resettling and rehabilitating the nearly three lakh war displaced in the north of the country in the shortest possible time.

The issue of the war displaced, conditions in the relief centres and the need for reconciliation among all communities were discussed at the bilateral meeting between Mr. Rajapaksa and Mr. Ban on the sidelines of the 15th NAM Summit at Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt.

Mr. Rajapaksa told Mr. Ban it had only been eight weeks since the liberation of Tamil civilians from the LTTE and that the government had demonstrated it was doing its best to ease conditions in the relief centres and they would improve further day by day. Read more ...

TN CM hails setting aside of Rs 500 crore for Sri Lankan Tamils

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Monday welcomed the announcements made in the Union budget including allocation of Rs 500 crore for rehabilitation of Tamils refugees in Sri Lanka.

"I express my thanks for the allocation of Rs 500 crore towards rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils as announced earlier by the Prime Minister. The Budget placed priority to social justice and would be beneficial to all sections of society," he said. Read more ...

India offers $146m for Tamils

India offers Rs. 5b for displaced persons - Thondaman

Minister of Youth Empowerment and Socio Economic Development and CWC General Secretary Arumugan Thondaman who recently went to India on a goodwill mission said that the Indian centre has pledged five billion rupees assistance to the Government towards the post conflict phase in rehabilitation, resettlement and welfare measures for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi and other leaders whom he met in Chennai also assured to assist the IDPs, he said.

During his meeting with the Tamil Nadu CM, he renewed President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s earlier invitation for the CM to visit Sri Lanka to see for himself the humanitarian and welfare assistance being extended to the IDPs and the invitation drew a positive response from the CM, Thondaman said and added that it was very likely that they will pay a visit soon. Read more ...

LTTE child soldiers allowed to exchange letters with parents

Hundreds of surrendered LTTE child soldiers, who are being kept in various welfare camps in Vavuniya, have been allowed to exchange letters and telephone calls with their parents, a top commander said.

"We have started allowing them to exchange letters with their parents, though they are yet not permitted to interact with them directly," Competent Authority for the IDPs Major General GA Chandrasiri said.

Talking to an Indian convoy led by High Commissioner Alok Prasad, Chandrasiri said the former child soldiers could also talk to their family members over phone. Read more ...

Civilian rehabilitation and reconciliation well in progress

"The war against the terrorists is now over, and the Tamil-speaking people should be protected. They should be able to live without fear and mistrust," President Mahinda Rajapaksa said declaring victory. The President well knew that reconciliation and rehabilitation would be his key concerns soon and rightly the subject of the Sri Lanka government from then on.

As promised by the President, around 100 child soldiers have been housed in Ambepussa, a camp for child soldiers. The innocent inhabitants are already learning how to reintegrate and live with their peers making a constructive contribution to the society. "I was forced to join the LTTE at gunpoint. Even my mother and father had been helpless. I haven't seen my parents and other siblings for years," a former child soldier said. Read more ...

SRI LANKA: Will Tamils Have A Say In Reconstruction?

For people in Sri Lanka’s war-torn North, for many years life has meant virtually living out of a suitcase while moving from place to place to escape the rigours of war and bloody combat.

In the late 1980s when government troops were battling Tamil separatist rebels for control of the northern capital of Jaffna, journalists from the Tamil daily newspaper Udayan - who themselves were fleeing the fighting - printed the newspaper, virtually on the run.

"We moved an entire printing press out of Jaffna and published the paper while being among the displaced," said a veteran journalist of the Jaffna newspaper, reflecting on a common problem faced by many northerners during nearly three decades of war.

Weeks after government troops crushed Tamil rebels and their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the government is pushing ahead with a massive reconstruction and rehabilitation effort - prioritising resettling most of the nearly 300,000 civilians who are housed in internally displaced person (IDP) camps in the northern town of Vavuniya. Read more ...

Lanka rejects allegations, says resettlement prog on track

Brushing aside the "adverse propaganda" about condition of Tamil civilians in refugee camps, Sri Lankan government said on Tuesday that it was "fast progressing" with the rehabilitation efforts for the displaced people in the north.

"Amid allegations and adverse propaganda, Sri Lankan government is fast progressing with the resettlement of the displaced civilians," an official statement said.

"Consequently, the government announced a wide range of programmes in which it hopes to improve welfare facilities at camps (in Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna) where an estimated 300,000 civilian refugees are being housed," it said. Read more ...

Sri Lanka and India focus on relief for rescued hostages

Sri Lanka and India are agreed that with the end of military operations in Sri Lanka, the time was opportune to focus attention on issues of relief, rehabilitation, resettlement and re-conciliation including a permanent political solution in Sri Lanka.

This understanding was reached when President Mahinda Rajapaksa met with the Indian Foreign Secretary Mr. Shiv Shankar Menon and National Security Advisor Mr. M.K. Narayanan at Janadhipathi Mandiraya, this morning (21).

The Government of India committed to provide all possible assistance in the implementation of a plan for early resettlement of IDPs in areas such as de-mining, provision of civil infrastructure and re-construction of houses. All these activities will be implemented in close consultation and co-operation with the Government of Sri Lanka. Read more ...

Northern rehabilitation and development: Call for transparency and accountability of INGOs

National Non Governmental Organisations which are in operation in Sri Lanka for several decades are asking the international donors and the United Nations agencies why they are being sidelined in the disbursement of aid for rehabilitation and development projects in the North.

These organisations are particularly concerned about the possibility of an influx of INGOs into the country to undertake projects without any transparency and accountability as it happened in the aftermath of the tsunami of 2004 December.

They are of the opinion that the bulk of the disbursement should be provided to the local NGOs and local expertise should be hired for the projects.

Sewa Lanka Organisation Chairman Dr. Harsha Kumara Navaratne

expressed dismay over foreign funding INGOs such as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to meet the basic requirement of the civilians in welfare camps and villages. Read more ...

Coca- Cola Beverages supply drinking water for IDPs

Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka, to help IDPs in the north, came forward with a donation of 100,000 bottles of water which were handed over to the Ministry of Healthcare.

“At Coca-Cola in Sri Lanka, all our associates have come forward to donate a part of their salary. This is just a small way of extending our support and to provide assistance to all our affected brethren,” said Sarath Jayasinghe, Human Resources Manager, Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka, in a press release issued by the company.

Coca-Cola in the past has also engaged in several relief and rehabilitation measures with both national and international NGOs. Sunday Times

Tamil politicos satisfied with rehabilitation process

Former Vavuniya district Parliamentarian and People’s Liberation Organisation Tamil Eelam Leader D. Sitharthan along with the General Secretary of the Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (NABA) T. Sritharan who visited the rehabilitation centres set up for former LTTE cadres in Ambepussa and Pallekele have expressed satisfaction over the rehabilitation measures carried out in those centres.

Sitharthan and Sritharan visited the Ambepussa and Pallekele rehabilitation centres on Friday accompanied by the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice S. Gamlath.

Sitharthan told the Sunday Observer that T. Sritharan and he were the first Tamil politicians to visit those two rehabilitation centres set up for former LTTE cadres and they were extremely satisfied over the measures adopted at the centres with regard to rehabilitation activities.

“We presented various gifts to the former LTTE child cadres - around one-hundred members - girls and boys who are being rehabilitated at the Ambepussa centre. They have been provided all facilities and vocational training. The youngsters have been trained to handle computers. Those who handled guns are now conversant with the computer,” Sitharthan said. Read more ...

Northern development: NGOs pledge to cooperate

President Mahinda Rajapaksa at a meeting with the NGO fraternity at Temple Trees on Thursday, prevailed upon them that they were welcome to play a supplementary role to that of the Government when it comes to relief and rehabilitation efforts in the north.

During discussions, the President noted that the Government was prepared to support these organizations if they were prepared to work within the set framework by the authorities.

While acknowledging their contribution to the relief efforts so far, the President stressed that the Government was prepared to back these organizations if they come up with specific target oriented plans and necessary funding to carry out projects, which would benefit the displaced people.

President Rajapaksa also stressed that his prime intention of seeking support from all relevant sectors was to help people achieve better and equal living standards through out the country sans any geographical, religious or ethnic differences.

The President also paid special attention to the problems faced by these NGOs and regarding specific areas in which their support was needed.

While commending the Government’s present relief efforts in the north, NGO representatives prevailed upon the President that they could contribute in a significant way to supplement the relief/rehabilitation effort.

Admitting that some mistakes had taken place during their earlier efforts in the region, the NGO representatives stressed that they were prepared to carry forward the work while rectifying earlier mistakes. Read more ...

LTTE women, child soldiers to be rehabilitated

There are around 600 women soldiers, 400 child soldiers and a large number of orphaned children among the LTTE members who surrendered to the Sri Lankan armed forces.

The Child Development and Women's Empowerment Ministry will make arrangements to re-integrate them in to the society after rehabilitation, a Child Development and Women's Empowerment Ministry spokesman said.

He said the Ministry will set up four rehabilitation centres for them in Bogawanthalawa, Thalawa, Biyagama and Paranthan to carry out this task.

The Ministry will use six abandoned state schools located in the North Western and North Central Provinces as rehabilitation centres.

UNICEF will support the Ministry to implement this project. Read more ...