SLA refuses permission to Jaffna civilians in Vavuniyaa camps to return home

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 October 2009, 04:24 GMT]
More than 300 families from Jaffna district, now detained in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) internment camps in Vavuniyaa, who had applied to return to their original places are held back as Jaffna SLA high command has refused clearance to them, sources in Vavuniya said. The clearance is denied as they are under suspicion and considered a threat to security, SLA authorities claimed.

Vanni SLA commander Major Gen. Kamal Gunaratne had earlier said that there were around 30,000 Jaffna civilians among the 2, 82,000 detained in Vavuniyaa SLA internment camps.

He had also indicated that these 30,000 civilians will be resettled in Jaffna before 15 November.

Meanwhile, 1,225 civilians from Vadamaraadchi, Thenmaraadchi and some areas of Valikaamam were brought to Jaffna from Vavuniyaa camps Saturday.

The civilians from the SLA occupied High Security Zones (HSZs) in Valikaamam north, however, are still detained in Vavuniyaa.