SLA refuses to permit TNA parliamentarians into Menik Farm camp in Vavuniyaa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 22 May 2010, 12:05 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) officials in Menik Farm Camp in Vavuniyaa did not permit Saturday a group of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarians to visit the said detention centre and see the Vanni civilians held, sources in Vavuniyaa said. The SLA officials insisted on prior permission from Ministry of Defence Secretary, Gothabaya Rajapakse and stood firm in their decision though the MPP tried to argue their way into the centre, the sources added.

The group of TNA parliamentarians are on a mission of seeing the places in Vanni where the uprooted civilians have been allowed to resettle and those still held in the detention centres in Vavuniyaa.

The parliamentarians, on being refused permission to enter Menik Farm Camp, proceeded from there to Mannaar district to meet the resettled people and find out about their living conditions.

They met the resettled people in various places in the districts of Mullaiththeevu district Friday and reported about the hardships they undergo.