Colombo: All the former LTTE fighters, who
were detained following the end of a three-decade civil war in
2009, will be released next year, a top official has said.
The last remaining group of 700 former Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres will be released by mid-2012
after providing them the mandatory 12 months training, said A.
Dissanayaka, the Secretary for the Ministry of Rehabilitation
and Prison Reforms.
The former combatants are being given training in
vocational skills under the supervision of the Sri Lankan
military so that they can earn their livelihood once released.
"They will be given training in 20 different fields and
once reintegrated into the society they can obtain
self-employment loans up to Rs 250,000," he was quoted as
saying by Sri Lankan online newspaper Colombopage.
Over hundred former LTTE women cadres, who were members
of the last group of around 700 remaining ex-Tamil Tiger
rebels, visited the Sri Lankan parliament last week before
being reintegrated into society after undergoing one-year
rehabilitation programme, the report said.
During and immediately after the final phase of the
ethnic conflict, 11,700 LTTE cadres surrendered to the Lankan
military.
The government has allocated Rs 750 million to fund the
rehabilitation process for the current financial year.
According to the government, it has spent Rs 2.5 billion on
the rehabilitation of the former Tamil Tiger combatants
following the end of the civil war in May 2009.
The LTTE waged a bloody three-decade civil war for a
separate state for the Tamils of Sri Lanka, alleging
discrimination against the minority community at the hands of
the majority Sinhalas.
The Lankan military crushed the rebels and ended the
ethnic conflict that killed between 80,000 and 100,000 people.
The government has launched negotiations with the
representatives of the Sri Lankan Tamils to fulfill the
political aspirations of the minority community.
PTI
