Detained Sri Lankan war Refugees To Be Released Within One Month
250,000 Tamils were detained after fleeing the frontline in the last stages of the 26-year-civil war. (Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images)
Colombo, Sri Lanka (CNN) — The Sri Lankan government said Saturday it will lift restrictions on thousands of war-displaced ethnic Tamils still residing in squalid internment camps.
More than 300,000 people displaced by the fighting between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels were placed in a sprawling, heavily guarded camp called Menik Farm near the northern town of Vavuniya. Many have already been released.
Read more ….
Sri Lanka to relax Tamil camp restrictions — ABC News
Sri Lanka ‘to free Tamil refugees’ — Al Jazeera
Sri Lanka to free all war-displaced civilians — AFP
Sri Lanka Tamil refugee camps ‘to be opened next month’ — BBC
‘Sri Lanka has released half of war-displaced’ — AFP
My Comment: Better late than never. Personally, I am surprised that the Sri Lankan Government is doing this. It tells me that international pressure has played a role in ending these internment camps …. but closing these camps is only the first step in building a peace process that must proceed between the two different Sri Lankan communities.
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