Special ID cards in Vadamaradchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 August 1998, 10:00 GMT]
The Sri Lanka Army (SLA) is issuing special identity cards to the residents of the Vadamaradchi region in the Jaffna peninsula from this week, on which not only is the photograph of holder affixed, but physical details noted too, said sources in Jaffna

This ID card, on which height, prominent physical features and other details are included, is to be obtained by residents through the Grama Sevakas, who will submit a form completed by the residents to the local SLA camp with all the information.

The SLA will record the information and release the special ID card, said sources.

Special ID cards are not an entirely new phenomenon in the Tamil areas where military operations have been going from 1979. In the 1990s, such ID cards were issued to the residents of Batticaloa, but the practice has fallen out of use now.

Human rights agencies, while acknowledging the SLA need for vigilance in the war zone, have criticised the Sri Lanka Government for contravening the citizenship rights of the people of these areas by issuing special ID cards for them.