Government continues to deceive IDPs in resettlement in HSZs in Valikaamam – President of IDP Welfare organizations

[TamilNet, Friday, 05 March 2010, 11:47 GMT]
Sri Lanka government continues to deceive the people evicted from their properties in Valikaamam north and east in Jaffna, which were declared High Security Zones (HSZs) by Sri Lanka Army (SLA), without allowing to them to resettle in their homes as promised time and again by government ministers and officials, A. S. Nadarajah, the president of the Federation of Welfare Organizations in Jaffna peninsula told TamilNet Friday. Even the promises made by President Rajapakse and his brother Basil Rajapakse prior to the recent presidential election have not been fulfilled, he added.

It was officially announced by government authorities in Jaffna during the presidential election that IDPs will be allowed to resettle in 12 Village Officer (VO) divisions in Valikaamam north and in 1 VO division in Valikaamam east.

In keeping with this announcement IDPs were allowed to enter the HSZ through the SLA check post at Thellippazhai FDL position and visit their properties during daytime.

But SLA has all of a sudden put up barbed wire fences blocking them and refuses permission to enter the HSZ, Nadarajah said.

Meanwhile, it is now being said that 1300 IDP families are going to be resettled in the no-man-zone next to the HSZ.

In earlier instances too this promise had been often made but never kept, Nadarajah said.

The government says in its election propaganda that people will be allowed to go to Thellippazhai Mahajana College, Multi-purpose society and Cancer Hospital in the HSZ but this is not going to benefit the IDPs who want to be resettled in their properties as promised by the government, he added.

Nadarajah also said that the IDP Welfare Organizations Federation is planning to hold protest demonstrations so as to bring the issue to the related authorites.