1.62 lakh Tamil IDPs screened so far in the north: Lanka

Last Updated: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 17:40

Tags: Tamil IDPs, Lanka

Colombo: Sri Lankan government has said as many as 1.62 lakh Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in welfare camps in the north have been screened for resettlement so far and another 1 lakh will undergo the process.

"It is imperative to maintain the screening and registration of the IDPs as a local process as being carried out at present," Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama told his his Danish counterpart Per Stig Moeller during discussions yesterday in New York.

Bogollagama said that while 162,000 IDPs had been screened there was still another about 100,000 to be completed.

It was through this screening process that information was obtained on the location of unexploded mines and ordnance buried by the LTTE which were being unearthed, he said.

Referring to screening process which had already begun in Jaffna and Mannar, he said that it was a month since conducive conditions were being put in place for resettlement.

Minister Bogollagama thanked the Danish Minister for the humanitarian assistance received through DANIDA which includes demining.

He outlined the steps being taken with regard to the resettlement of IDPs and pointed out the need for the international community's understanding of the related challenges the government of Sri Lanka has to face.

Bureau Report

First Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 17:40