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Sunday, 16 November 2003  
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UNHCR rep expresses concern

Neil Wright, UNHCR Representative expressed his concern over the impact that the present political climate is having both on the confidence of the internally Displaced Persons and of the Refugees who are awaiting repatriation from abroad, to Prof. Jayalath Jayewardena, Minister of Resettlement, Reconstruction and Refugees, at a meeting held at the Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees on Friday.

Wright pointed out that he has received reports of a drop in confidence among the IDPs since the political events last week. There is a certain amount of fear expressed by them about the security situation as to their personal welfare and safety, and also as to what will happen in the future to improve their daily lives and restore the war-damaged infrastructure.

"Since the present situation is unclear, the planned programmes may be affected due to a loss of donor confidence. This in turn is having a damaging affect on the IDPs and the refugees who are depending on the development work that is going on or about to commence, so that they could return to a more conductive environment for peaceful co-existence. The confidence that was built up in the past 20 months is now being replaced by fear and uncertainty," he emphasised.

"Donor confidence, which was highlighted at the Tokyo conference is being affected," he added. These were also the sentiments expressed by Senior IMF Resident Representative over the weekend, when he is reported to have said that "he hopes the current uncertainty is resolved quickly so that confidence in the economy, which has improved significantly, is not eroded." He further added in his comments to the press that the performance under the current programme has been satisfactory.

The World Bank Country Director commenting on the present political situation told the media that "if the crisis is not resolved quickly it could create delays. In particular if the crisis has an impact on the peace process or the economic reform programmed, it would be clearly very serious, for these are the two basic justifications, for our support."

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