Sri Lanka to Free Civilians in IDP Camps on 1st December and Enable Them to Move Freely

21st November 2009, www.news.lk

On the directives of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Government has made all the necessary arrangements to complete the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons in the northern transitional centers by 31st January 2010, Senior Advisor the President, Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa said today (21).

At a discussion held this morning in Vavuniya, Parliamentarian Rajapaksa said the restrictions imposed on the movement of civilians in the IDP centers will be lifted with effect from 1st December 2009 to enable them to freely move to any part of the region, Rajapaksa added.

Meanwhile, the Government announced yesterday that it has dispatched equipment and machinery worth over Rs. 2200 million for the welfare and livelihood activities of the resettled civilians, since the resettlement process commenced in this year.

The government in its' speedy resettlement programme of IDPs have already resettled over 100,000 IDPs who took shelter in welfare camps in the Northern and Eastern regions.

The accelerated resettlement plan of the government has been hailed worldwide with commendation. The UN Under Secretary on Humanitarian Affairs, John Holmes who was here on a brief visit was pleased with the facilities afforded to the people in welfare camps.He pledged the fullest support of the UN agencies to expedite the resettlement at the earliest.