Tamil Nadu MPs delegation to see IDP internment camps

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 October 2009, 11:45 GMT]
Eight Members of Parliament from Tamil Nadu, from the ruling Congress Party and its supporting political parties Dravida Munetra Kazhakam (DMK) and Viduthalai Chiruththaikal (VCK) are expected to arrive in Colombo Sunday and from there they will be taken to the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) internment camps in Vavuniyaa where the Vannin IDPs are detained, sources in Colombo said. Meanwhile, opposition parties in Tamil Nadu and India including Communist Party have expressed their strong protest for not having included any MP from the opposition or prominent leaders who had stood up for Eezham Tamils for many years. Sri Lanka government intends to take this delegation on a ‘guided tour’ to ‘selected spots’ in an effort to hide the true conditions under which the IDPs are suffering, representatives of IDP welfare organizations said.
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Civilian killed during curfew hours in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 October 2009, 09:17 GMT]
Unidentified men entered the house of a civilian Friday night during Sri Lanka Army (SLA) imposed curfew hours in Raamaavil in Kodikaamam and killed him by cutting his throat, Kodikaamam police who recovered the victim’s body and handed it over to Jaffna Teaching Hospital said. The killing took place close to the SLA detention centre in Raamaavil where IDPs are held.
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Police shoot, injures civilian in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 23 September 2009, 13:45 GMT]
Policemen at a check post in Paalaavi in Kodikaamam, Themaraadchi opened fire on a civilian Wednesday morning causing serious injuries to him, sources in Jaffna said. The police claimed that the man travelling on a tractor tried to run away when they stopped the tractor for checking. The seriously injured man was first rushed to Chaavakachcheari government hospital and then transferred to Jaffna Teaching Hospital as he was in a critical condition, the sources added.
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SLA refuses permission to Jaffna University students in camps to attend lectures

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 September 2009, 10:15 GMT]
Despite efforts made by Jaffna University Students’ Union (JUSU), University Administration and other interested parties, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) continues to detain 74 university students from Vanni districts held in the internment camps in Vavuniyaa and brought to Jaffna, in the SLA detention camp in Kaithadi, a press notice released by the JUSU said. JUSU accused the government for its continued reluctance to allow the detained undergrads to attend university, in the press notice.
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‘From one prison to another’: Sri Lanka’s ‘resettlement’

[TamilNet, Saturday, 19 September 2009, 08:31 GMT]
Under international pressure as the monsoon looms, the Sri Lanka government is hastily engaged in relocating some of the displaced Tamils being held in militarised internment camps in Vavuniyaa. However, the inmates are being moved from Vavuniyaa’s barbed-wire ringed camps to similar overcrowded enclosures without facilities in other districts, sources in Jaffna said. Moreover these camps are also located in low-lying terrain in the path of oncoming floods, NGO workers say. “There is no resettlement. This is like being sent from one prison to another prison," Mavai Senathiraja, a parliamentarian from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said.
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Lynn Pascoe visits IDP detention camps in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 17 September 2009, 16:47 GMT]
Mr. Lynn Pascoe, United Nations Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, who was in Jaffna Thursday, visited the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) detention camps in Koapaay and Kaithadi, accompanied by Jaffna Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander, Major Gen. Mark and Jaffna Government Agent, K. Ganesh under heavy escort. Non-government organizations in Jaffna expressed concern that independent civil society representatives in the peninsula were not given an opportunity to meet the visiting UN envoy and inform him of the true situation in the peninsula.
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British High Commissioner visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 28 August 2009, 17:24 GMT]
British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Dr. Peter Hayes, visited Jaffna Thursday on an invitation by Basil Rajapakse, Senior Advisor to the President and his brother, to visit the bridge being built at Changuppiddi-Kearatheevu causeway on A32 land route to Jaffna with British Government’s aid. After visiting the building site the High Commissioner participated in an event along with Basil Rajapakse, Minister Douglas Devananda and Northern Province Governor, G. A. Chandrasiri, where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities officially handed over 1100 acres of paddy land in Thenmaraadchi back to the farmers for cultivation, sources in Jaffna said.
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Thenmaraadchi farmers to be allowed to resume cultivation

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 August 2009, 06:45 GMT]
An event, where the farmers of Thenmaraadchi who had been refused permission to cultivate their lands in Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone (HSZ) in Thenmarraadchi for nearly ten years are to be allowed to resume cultivation Thursday, has been announced by Sri Lanka government. Meanwhile, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Allaippiddi who had fled their village due to SLA artillery attacks in August 2006 and now living in Jaffna town have been asked to be present at Duraippah Stadium Thursday to participate in an event where action will be taken to resettle them, according to another announcement. Basil Rajapakse, parliamentarian and Senior Advisor to the President, Northern Province Governor, G. A. Chandrasiri and Minister of Social Services, Douglas Devananda, will be present at both events, the announcements said.
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NP governor announces lift of SLA restrictions in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 August 2009, 17:29 GMT]
Former Northern Province (NP) Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander and present governor of NP, G. A. Chandrasiri, who had been the author of several SLA restrictions in Jaffna peninsula during his tenure in Jaffna, announced Thursday that he would take steps to lift several SLA restrictions that have been imposed in Jaffna peninsula for the last thirteen years, sources in Jaffna said. The governor who met the key officers of SLA, Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and police in Jaffna Public Library Wednesday, visited Vadamaraadchi and Thenmaraadchi Thursday accompanied by Minister Douglas Devananda, the sources added.
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SLA travel ‘pass’ system to continue in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 August 2009, 16:34 GMT]
The system of obtaining ‘pass’ to travel out of Jaffna peninsula from Sri Lanka Army (SLA) civil administrative office will not be lifted, Northern Province Governor, Major. Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, said in a discussion held with key SLA officers in Jaffna Secretariat Wednesday, sources in Jaffna said. There was high expectation of the pass system being lifted among peninsula residents following the promises made by government ministers during Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election campaign.
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Thenmaraadchi IDP families seek resettlement in their villages

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 14 July 2009, 05:10 GMT]
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS) welfare organizations in Jaffna peninsula sent an appeal Monday to Sri Lanka Government authorities and to several International Humanitarian Organizations requesting the immediate resettlement of the IDP families displaced from Thenmaraadchi due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensives in 1999, in their own villages, sources in Jaffna said. SLA continues to deny permission for the resettlement though the villages have been cleared of landmines, claiming that the villages are within its High Security Zone (HSZ), the appeal said.
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Death threats to Jaffna Uthayan daily continue

[TamilNet, Monday, 13 July 2009, 17:24 GMT]
Reporters, employees and agents of Uthayan Tamil daily published in Jaffna continue to be issued with death threats by post despite President Rajapakse’s recent assurance that he will not permit anyone to violate the freedom of the press, sources in Jaffna said. A group calling itself ‘Tamil Front Protecting the Country’ allegedly linked to a paramilitary group operating with Colombo had issued on 27 June a notice titled ‘Final Warning’ to Uthayan Tamil daily office in Jaffna warning that Uthayan staffers will be killed if they do not officially relinquish their posts with effect from 30 June 2009.
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SLA provides security to Tamil dailies’ distributors in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 June 2009, 04:56 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA), following the burning of all copies of three Tamil dailies intended for distribution in Jaffna district Thursday, allegedly by the armed group operating with the Sri Lanka military intelligence, provided escort by armed motorbike squad Friday morning to the newspaper distribution staff on motorcycles, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, SLA deployed security guards for the offices of Valampuri and Yarl Thinakural Tamil dailies in Jaffna with effect from Friday though the editors of these dailies have rejected SLA security in the past, the sources added.
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SLA shoots dead youth in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Thursday, 25 June 2009, 13:29 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers shot and killed a youth in Yakkaalai, Vara'ni in Thenmaraadchi Wednesday in a cordon and search operation held in the area, residents of the area said. Kodikaamam police recovered the body of the youth and handed it over to Jaffna Teaching Hospital mortuary Wednesday night for identification, hospital sources said.
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2 decades of displacement continues for Valikaamam residents

[TamilNet, Sunday, 14 June 2009, 13:22 GMT]
Residents of Valikaamam North in Jaffna peninsula, evicted from their traditional villages on 15 June 1990 due to Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive and occupation of their villages, continue to languish in refugee camps and other places for the last twenty years, sources in Jaffna said. Despite Colombo Supreme Court directive to allow resettlement in the SLA High Security Zone (HSZ) areas in Valikaamam North, SLA authorities in Jaffna have not permitted anyone to return to their homes and properties until now, the sources added.
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Vanni civilians in SLA detention centres to be settled in Thenmaraadchi

[TamilNet, Saturday, 09 May 2009, 15:54 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) authorities in Jaffna have decided to permanently settle the civilians from Vanni, now held in the SLA detention centres in Jaffna district, in three large detention centres to be located in Allaarai area in Kodikaamam and Kaithadi, in Thenmaraadchi, sources in Jaffna said. The SLA detention centres in Mirusuvil Roman Catholic Church premises and Kodikaamam Government Tamil Mixed School (GTMS) will continue to be maintained, the sources added.
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SLA forcibly removes youths from its detention centres in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 May 2009, 17:24 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers have forcibly taken away young men and women among the Vanni civilians held in the SLA detention centres in Thenmaraadchi and Vadamaraadchi, according to NGO representatives who visited the detention centres. The family members who raised protest against the abduction of their children in Mirusuvil detention centre have been taken away from the centre for ‘interrogation’ by SLA soldiers, the sources added. SLA officials say that the youths taken away are to be placed in the SLA Special Rehabilitation Camp (SRC) located in Thellippazhai High Security Zone (HSZ).
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Colombo SLHRC restricts its Jaffna office functions

[TamilNet, Monday, 04 May 2009, 14:16 GMT]
Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) Colombo Head Office Secretary, Ms. Chandra Ellawela, has instructed Jaffna office not to admit anyone seeking protection to their lives into the office but to get the assistance of the police to check them and not to take them to Court in HRC vehicles but in private vehicles, civil society sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, it has been decided to instruct persons seeking protection to their lives to do so in one of the five Magistrate Courts in Jaffna peninsula, in a high level meeting between Jaffna Additional Magistrate, T. Wicknarajah and Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Jaffna Commander, according to directions released by the Additional Magistrate, the sources added.
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Vanni civilians held in Jaffna schools lack electricity

[TamilNet, Monday, 27 April 2009, 17:57 GMT]
Attempts made by Sri Lanka Electricity Board (SLEB) in Jaffna peninsula to supply 24 hours electricity supply to the schools where civilians from Vanni are brought by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and detained have failed due to the inability of the Chinese firm, ‘Northern Power’, which had entered into a contract with the Sri Lanka government to supply electricity to the entire peninsula for 24 hours to fulfill its obligation, sources in Jaffna said.
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Schools in Jaffna to reopen Monday

[TamilNet, Saturday, 25 April 2009, 13:40 GMT]
Directors of Education in Jaffna peninsula met Saturday to explore possibilities of reopening the schools for the second term and to find alternate arrangements to continue education for the students of the schools where civilians from Vanni are being held, sources in Jaffna said. It was decided in the meeting to reopen all schools in the peninsula on 27 Monday and to enable the students of the schools appropriated, to study in the schools located close by, based on a shift system, Education Department sources said.
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