Bureaucracy restricts movement

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 03 November 1998, 22:47 GMT]
Save the Children fund, a UK based Non Governmental Organisation hosted a one-day seminar at the St.Josephs College, Trincomalee, to discuss problems faced by children in obtaining birth certificates, and hence national identity (NI) cards. The seminar was chaired by the Government Agent of Trincomalee, S.D.Chandradasa.

S.Subramanium, an official from the Education ministry of the north-eastern provincial council said that about 50,000 displaced students are residing in the Kilinochchi and Mulaithivu districts and about 30,000 of them don't have birth their certificates.

"These are students displaced by [military] Operation Riveresa launched in 1995" he said.

The students handed over their birth certificates to their schools, and these have been subsequently either destroyed or lost during Operation Riveresa, he said.

They need their birth certificates to obtain their National Identity cards, without which they are unable to travel to areas controlled by the SLA, he said further.

He said this problem has to be addressed by the Sri Lankan government.