Sri Lanka: From December "total freedom of movement" for the Tamil in refugee camps

Colombo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - As of 1 December refugees still living in refugee camps in northern Sri Lanka will have "total freedom of movement." So says Basil Rajapaksa, brother and chief adviser to the president, addressing the Tamil people living in Manik Farm, the most known and largest refugee camp managed by the Colombo army.  

50% of 280 thousand refugees from the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and the army are still living in camps scattered among Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya. The Colombo government has guaranteed that all will return to their homes by the end of January. The delays, which hitherto have characterized the process of resettlement of refugees and the continual movement forward of the date of closure of camps have led the international community and domestic critics of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to doubt even this new promise.

The announcement of Basil Rajapaksa on the "total freedom of movement" for the refugees came after the visit to the island of John Holmes, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs. The UN envoy has personally verified the conditions of refugees in camps in a tour of three days, from the 17 to 19 November (see AsiaNews, 18/11/2009, " UN: Tamil 163 thousand still confined in refugee camps" ).  

Meeting the authorities in Colombo Holmes reiterated the urgency of improving the living conditions in the camps and returned to underline the need to allow freedom of movement for refugees.  

On several occasions international humanitarian organizations and civil society associations on the island have accused the government of having organized the fields as open-air prisons. Until now, refugees lived surrounded by a barbed wire fence that separates them from the outside world. They are not allowed to leave the camps to rejoin families segregated in other centers, or to receive visitors.