“Following the recent returns, some 163,000 people still remain in the camps where conditions are deteriorating,” UNHCR said in a media communiqué issued on Nov 6th.
Other independent reports say that amid heavy rains and thunder storms many of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) held in Menik Farm camp are leaving from their shelters and seeking refuge in the public halls and school buildings located inside the camp.
UNHCR media brief notes that discussions with the Sri Lanka government regarding the situation in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu are ongoing, “to ensure that minimum return standards, such as completion of demining and access to services, are adhered to.”
According to government and independent civil society sources only a few people have settled in their own homes or allowed to stay with their relatives. Many of the IDPs brought to Jaffna peninsula Saturday Nov 7th have been lodged in militarized “interim camps.”
There are allegations that the Government of Sri Lanka is deliberately barring and delaying people returning to Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts and schemes to alter demographics are already being carried out in the districts.
In a query to Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka – the much decorated “war hero” speculated to be Sri Lanka opposition common presidential candidate, Democratic People’s Front (DPF) led by Mano Ganesan has asked to reveal the stance of the “common candidate” on IDP re-settlement without changing Wanni demography, prior to extending the support of DPF.
© Tamilweek.com
Related Links:
UNHCR demining machines to arrive in Sri Lanka - Relief Web
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