Dislodged Tamil civilians breathe sigh of relief

Anura Maitipe reporting from Valaichchenai

The people who have been sheltered in Mankerni, Valaichchenai and Reditenna temporary camps following the outbreak of crossfire between the LTTE and government are now ready to go back to their villages in Vakarai, Panchankerni, Vakaneri, Poonagar and Kokaweli.

During the two months of violence they ran for their lives and left behind their belongings. Some were killed by the LTTE gun fire. Over 40 Tamil civilians have been killed by the LTTE as a revenge who had tried to flee from LTTE controlled area.

The security forces and civil authorities with the help of Unicef and Save the Children have taken initiatives to provide them with temporary shelter, food and basic sanitary facilities. At these three camps there were over 2,792 people including children.

Former schoolteacher S. Ponnasami (65), a resident of Vakarai said "The LTTE assaulted me and asked me not to leave the area and we had to starve for many weeks due to lack of food. The foodstuff sent by the Government was spirited away by the LTTE to feed their cadres.

He added that as they could not bear the situation any longer they were forced to flee from LTTE controlled areas. "After a three day journey through thick jungle we reached the Valaichchenai and from there we were brought by the Army to this camp. The security forces treated us well and they provided us with shelter,food and other sanitary facilities.

Since the LTTE has fled the area we are ready now to go back to our homes. Our children can go to schools and we would be able to carry on with our livelihood peacefully". M. Muttuamma (45), a housewife, from Vakaneri said, "As violence broke out, the LTTE threatened us not to move out of the village and they forcibly made use of over 164 families as human shields to launch attacks on civilian and military targets. However, when the Army advanced towards Vakarai they left us and moved into the jungle and, we moved into Government controlled areas.

Since the LTTE is not there now we are prepared to go back to Vakarai in the next few days.

A Tamil woman (35), Vakaneri who did not wish to be identified said" the majority of people hate the LTTE but had to keep quiet as they have no other alternative. We cannot oppose them openly for fear they might kill us.

The LTTE abducted our children and forcibly sent them to war. They killed people on suspicion that they were helping Karuna. It is good that the Army took control of the area. Our children are safe now. And we can live in peace".

S. Thangadorai a schoolteacher, who lives in Poonagar said," We have been living with the Muslim people for the past several years. Poonagar was a very peaceful village, but it was the LTTE that created all these problems. They started demanding ransom, torturing people for not obeying and killing their opponents.

"Tamil community in Poonagar dead were against LTTE practice of extortion. But we had no voice. The capture of this area by the Government forces was a great relief for us. Now our children are safe and can live without fear".

He added, "That the LTTE has now become a vicious force against Tamil community. The Tamil community wants to be liberated from the LTTE.

P. Thangamani now at the Valaichchenai camp said, "I have five children, two boys and three girls. My eldest son is 16. We lived at Kadiraweli. With the resumption of war in Vakarai the LTTE urged us to handover children to the LTTE training camps. We refused when finally issued their last warning. Since we are aware of the brutal behaviour of the LTTE, the night we escaped from the LTTE area. There were 34 families in all and after three days' walk through the jungle, we reached the Mankerni camp".

She added "Majority of Tamil people hate this war. And we do not want to sacrifice any more children to this ruthless war waged by the LTTE.

It was a great relief when Army captured this area. Now we can send our children back to school without fear and they can continue with their studies. Meanwhile the security forces have taken initiatives to tighten security in areas captured by the Army recently. The Army and STF with the help of police and home guards have re-established civil society in the area.

The basic infrastructure such as roads, water supply, electricity, police stations, schools and postal services have been re-established.

The mine clearing unit of the Army is sweeping for land mines in captured areas for re-settlement of civilians. Meanwhile Armed Forces have strengthened Forward Defence Lines in the area to provide maximum security to the people.According to the Muttur Divisional Secretariat over 6,813 Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim families have already been re-settled in Muttur. The Provincial Director of Health Services Rohitha Silva said, "We have made arrangements to provide sanitary and medical facilities to people in these areas.

A team of doctors will be mobilised on rotational basis to conduct medical clinics in these areas. All hospitals in the area have been provided with essential drugs and injections to meet the need of patients".