Delay in relief adds to Muttur IDPs woes

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 26 July 2006, 10:09 GMT]
Although three months have passed since the internal displacement of several hundreds of Tamil people from Muttur east to other areas following attacks by the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on April 25, only two weeks dry ration relief have been provided to the IDPs till now, said Mr.Elilan, Trincomalee district political head of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) addressing a group of public servants and representatives of non-governmental organizations working in the affected areas Tuesday morning, LTTE sources said.

Mr.Manivannan, Muttur Assistant Divisional Secretary Tuesday participated in the discussion held at Thamileelam Administrate Secretariat in Chenaiyoor in Muttur east, LTTE sources said.

He added that state armed forces have been firing artillery shells towards LTTE held Muttur east villages even now. Monday also artillery shells were fired by SLA. Internally displaced families are living daily in constant fear.

Government servants and other employees of the state sector working in the LTTE held villages complained that they were unable to travel to government controlled territory to fulfil their official obligations due to travelling difficulties. They requested the Assistant Divisional Secretary to take steps to provide adequate protection for them to travel to government held territory by speaking to security forces. The ADS undertook that he would attend to the matter, sources said.

Mr.Elilan speaking on the current situation said the government is not interested in providing relief to Tamil IDPs. The government is also not sincere in finding a political solution that would meet the legitimate political aspirations of Tamil people. Instead the government is engaged in deceiving the international community by saying that it will not ban the LTTE in Sri Lanka and on the other hand wooing other countries to ban the LTTE in their countries.