2ND LEAD

IDP families from Moothoor HSZ villages relocated elsewhere

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 29 September 2009, 17:02 GMT]
327 members of ninety-seven internally displaced Tamil families from Moothoor east in Trincomalee district were brought down to Verukal in fifteen State sector buses with police escort Tuesday morning from Kokkuvil transit centre in Batticaloa district. Moothoor Divisional Secretariat officials received them at Verukal Tuesday and transferred them to another transit centre located in Chinnakku’lam in Moothoor east as their original homes in Champoor east Champoor west, Kooniththeevu and Kadatkaraichcheanai in Moothoor east are occupied as Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zones (HSZs).

About 22,000 members of around 7,300 Tamil families fled from Moothoor east and sought refuge n Batticaloa district following the military operation by the SLA in April 2006. These IDP families were kept in seventy-five transit centres in Batticaloa since then.

6074 members of 1525 IDP families who fled from villages now under HSZ were held in eleven transit centres in Batticaloa district as SLA refused them to be resettled in their own homes.

However, they were transferred to transit camps in Ki'liveddi, Paddiththidal and Chinnakku’lam in Moothoor DS division since January this year in different batches.

The final batch of them was brought down to Verukal Tuesday, closing down eleven transit centres sheltering Moothoor east IDP families.