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
