More IDPs transferred to transit camp in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 October 2009, 11:11 GMT]
147 members of 52 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) families from Menikfarm internment camp in Vavuniyaa district were transferred to a transit camp located in Illupaikku’lam in Mannaar district before being resettled in their villages, from which they were forcibly vacated due to military operation by Sri Lanka Army (SLA). They would be screened by the army intelligence unit and would be allowed to leave the transit centre for their villages for resettlement, civil authority sources in Vavuniyaa said.

Hitherto more than 1,500 Mannaar IDPs detained in Vavuniyaa internment camps after the fall of Vanni region were transferred to transit centres in Mannaar and thereafter allowed to go to their villages for resettlement after being thoroughly screened by the army intelligence unit, the sources added.

Meanwhile, SLA spokesman claimed Tuesday that around 300 IDPs have been taken into custody by Sri Lankan forces in September while being detained in camps in Vavuniyaa including Menikfarm allegedly on information gathered by SLA Intelligence Unit.