Moothoor IPD students' education ignored

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 May 2008, 08:18 GMT]
Students of displaced families from Moothoor east in Trincomalee district, who fled the district with the outbreak of fresh military operation in 2006, have not been provided with free text books, uniforms and learning material by the Sri Lankan Department of Education event after the commencement of second academic term, according to complaints lodged by parents with the provincial education officials. Appeals made to the UNICEF and non-governmental organizations have also been ignored, lament parents in their complaints.
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SLA enters Madu shrine

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 April 2008, 11:55 GMT]
Government of Sri Lanka on Friday officially admitted that the Sri Lanka Army had entered the Madu Shrine. Analysts in Colombo observed that the move, which comes in the wake of the SLA debacle in the Northern Front, was timed to divert increasing focus on recent SLA casualties prior to the provincial elections in the east. Meanwhile, Informed sources in Vanni told TamilNet that the SLA had been stationed 1.5 km away from the Shrine for weeks and it could have entered the Shrine at any time as LTTE defensive units were strictly kept away from the peace zone.
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2 young Tamils shot dead in Naanaaddaan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 15:21 GMT]
Armed men shot and killed two young Tamil fishermen at Achangku'lam in Naanaaddaan division, Mannaar district Tuesday around 7:00 p.m., Police said. The fishermen were Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Musali division, displaced last year from Arippu when SLA occupied Chilaavaththu'rai.
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65 Allaippiddi IDP families resettled

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 11:05 GMT]
Jaffna Secretariat officials transported 65 families of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Monday in 3 buses and lorries loaded with their belongings from camps in Jaffna for resettlement in Allaippiddi, sources in Jaffna said. Many Non-government Organizations (NGOs) in Jaffna peninsula, however, expressed concern that the security situation has not returned to normal.
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Resettlement of Allaippiddi IDPs begins

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 18:27 GMT]
Thirteen families of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Allaipiddi, the islet village where 13 civilians were massacred by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in May 2006, have been resettled in Allaippiddi in the first stage of resettlement, according to Jaffna Secretariat. 65 more families are ready to return to Allaippiddi and to occupy houses built for them with the help of World Vision, International and local NGOs and they will be resettled on Monday, Jaffna Government Agent announced. Education Department officials in the islet are making arrangement to reopen Paraasakthi Maha Viththiyalam, the only school in Allaippiddi.
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12,000 Madu IDPs redisplaced, says report

[TamilNet, Saturday, 12 April 2008, 12:34 GMT]
More than 12,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from Madu have moved out to safer areas along villages located close to A-32 Mannar-Pooneryn highway north of Madu, a situation report from Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) issued this week said.
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A church in Madu destroyed, dreaded stage of ethnic cleansing, says TNA MP

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 08 April 2008, 13:03 GMT]
The Sacred Heart Church of the Madu Shrine complex has been destroyed in SLA shelling after the priests had taken away the image of Our Lady of Madu last Thursday, reveal the photos taken by K. Baskaran, a photographer who visited the Madu church on Sunday. "Any desecration of Madu is likely to be understood as an effort of the Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism to erase out the symbols of other religions and thus serving a spiritual blow which is the most dreaded stage in the process of ethnic cleansing," Vanni District Parliamentarian Selvam Adaikkalanathan told TamilNet Tuesday.
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STF shoots dead 2 Tamils in Vavu’natheevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 April 2008, 08:57 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandoes shot dead two Tamil civilians at 8:30 a.m in Paalcheanai area in Vavu’natheevu police division in Batticaloa district, following a Claymore attack on a STF road patrol unit in Paavatkodicheanai in Paalcheanai, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Our Lady of Madu becomes refugee in her own land: Bishop

[TamilNet, Thursday, 03 April 2008, 12:36 GMT]
Bishop of Mannaar, Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, told TamilNet Thursday that he had instructed the remaining four reverend priests, four reverend sisters and five civilian assistants to flee the premises of the Madu Church with the statue of Our Lady. "This is the first time Our Lady of Madu becomes refugee in her own land," Mannaar Bishop said. "She has been giving shelter to IDPs. In 1990, she gave shelter to 36,000 IDPs." Meanwhile, according to the latest reports from priests who were staying in bunkers, shells exploded inside the Church premises Thursday noon.
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Ki'linochchi facing imminent food crisis

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 March 2008, 13:24 GMT]
The food stock for emergency use in Ki’linochchi district has been completely exhausted due to difficulties in bringing in the required food items N.Vethanayagam, Government Agent (GA) said Thursday, when questioned about the imminent crisis in the region due to the worsening shortage of essential food items.
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450 Trincomalee IDPs to be resettled Tuesday

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 March 2008, 02:46 GMT]
A group of civilians from Trincomalee district, internally displaced due to military offensives, and residing in welfare centres in various parts of Batticaloa district, are being taken to their original places of residence Tuesday in 15 buses, Batticaloa kachcheri officials said.
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EU expresses serious concern of Sri Lanka's Rights abuses

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 March 2008, 12:00 GMT]
While noting with regret that Independent International Group of Eminent Persons (IIGEP) has decided to terminate work, and expressing concern that the Commission of Inquiries lack compliance with international standards, the European Union, in a press release issued Tuesday said, the EU "continues to believe in the importance of guaranteeing access to Kilinochchi for the Norwegian facilitator and other Co-Chairs, as well as the UN and other concerned organisations." The release also said, "[i]n 2006 the EU listed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation. Since then there have been a number of criminal prosecutions against LTTE fund raising in Europe."
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Nominations called for Eastern Province Council elections

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 18 March 2008, 00:12 GMT]
Representatives of political parties and independent groups have intensified political activities and have taken steps to choose potential candidates after the Elections Department called nominations for the forthcoming Provincial Council elections in the East, sources said. Elections are to be held for the three districts in the east- Batticaloa, Trincomalee and Ampaa’rai, but Dayanantha Dissanayake, the Elections Commissioner (EC), has not yet fixed the date of the elections.
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Record high rainfall in Batticaloa district

[TamilNet, Monday, 17 March 2008, 03:44 GMT]
Torrential rains and floods in Batticaloa district have caused more than 4000 persons of 1130 Internally Displaced People (IDP) familes staying in temporary camps in Batticaloa district to seek shelter in schools and public buildings elsewhere, Batticaloa Government Agent (GA), Suntharam Arumainayagam said. 99.03 mm rainfall within the last 24 hours was recorded Sunday 4:00 p.m, while the 314 mm rainfall in March this year is the highest for 138 years in Batticaloa district.
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Assault on media

[TamilNet, Sunday, 16 March 2008, 16:08 GMT]
While the 2007 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Sri Lanka released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the U.S. State Department catalogued the deteriorating climate for media freedom in Sri Lanka, State intimidation of, and violence on journalists continue in 2008. Unidentified men have broken into the houses of journalists Munusamy Parameshwari in Gampola, and Sashi Kumar and Sunetra Athugalpura in Gonawela, Kelaniya in three separate incidents in the last two days, according to media reports. Parameshawari's relatives were assaulted before the attackers got away, reports added.
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No compensation in sight for Vaakarai, Champoor victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 11:14 GMT]
Even after a lapse of one-and-a-half-year, the families of at least 100 civilians killed and 84 wounded in Vaakarai region of Batticaloa district during Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive, are still waiting for their compensations from the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). In the meantime, the families of the victims of previous SLA offensives before the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), who were assured of their sanctioned compensations, complained that the authorities were still delaying their payments. Before the local elections in Batticaloa in March 2008, the GoSL offered some fishing nets to fishermen societies and gifted 25,000 rupees per temple in Vaakarai.
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Court orders resettlement of 3000 IDP families in Valikaamam North

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 11:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Monday ordered Sri Lanka Government officials to expedite resettlement of first batch of three thousand families displaced from Valikaamam North in Jaffna district in their own lands, after a two member-committee comprising a representative nominated by the Jaffna High Court and a nominee of the Defense Ministry had scrutinized their applications and submitted their report to the Court, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Allaippiddi IDPs reluctant to return despite concessions

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 March 2008, 16:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka government (GoSL) and Jaffna Government Agent (GA) are making efforts to resettle Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Allaippiddi, displaced due to Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) offensives in August 2006, offering benefits and concessions with the help of International and local Non-government organizations, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. But 90% of the IDP fishing families are reluctant to return because fishing, their main means of living, is banned by SLN and the danger from land mines near civilian settlements have not been fully eliminated, IDP related welfare organization sources said.
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Sri Lankan forces beef up security in Batticaloa before local polls

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2008, 11:46 GMT]
Local government elections for nine local bodies including Batticaloa Municipal Council are to take place on Monday 10 March after a lapse of 14 years and all arrangements related to them have been made, according to Deputy Election Commissioner. People`s Action For Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) is the largest monitoring body, engaged with 300 monitors with 20 foreign nationals. However, Batticaloa has been turned into a militarised city with 12 more check posts and the deployment of additional Sri Lanka Army, Special Task Force and Policemen. 6,725 policemen have been engaged. More than 1800 policemen have been brought from Colombo.
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SLN, Police instruct Vanni IDPs away from Mannaar island

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 March 2008, 18:52 GMT]
Sri Lanka Navy and Police officials in Mannaar island have instructed the civil authorities at Mannaar District Secretariat not to accommodate refugees who arrive to the Island from Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (LTTE) controlled areas in recent days by boats within the Mannaar island. 28 persons from 8 families who have arrived by boat from Moon'raam piddi, Valaippaadu and Naachchikkudaa from LTTE controlled areas by boat to the Mannaar island were taken by the SL forces to Naanaaddan in the mainland to an old rice mill building.
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