Akashi highly taken up by Vanni camps

Japan provides US $ 4 m:

Ananth Palakidnar and P. Krishnaswamy

The Japanese special envoy Yasushi Akashi expressed his satisfaction on the manner in which the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were being looked after in the camps Vavuniya and pledged to provide assistance for humanitarian activities in the Vanni.

Akashi had held an extensive discussions with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama at the Foreign Ministry yesterday, based mainly on the current humanitarian issues with regard to the IDPs in Vavuniya.

Earlier, Yasushi Akashi had called on President Mahinda Rajapaksa and had talks on the overall situation.

Following the meeting with Foreign Minister Bogollagama, the Envoy who is in the island for the 17th time told the press that the Japanese Government would provide US $ 4 million for humanitarian assistance.

Resettling the IDPs in their original places was also discussed between the Japanese envoy and Foreign Minister Bogollagama.

Foreign Minister speaking to the press, said that the Japanese Envoy was briefed extensively on the ongoing humanitarian activities in the IDP centres in Vanni.

“It is the first time in the world that 120,000 IDPs were safely rescued and brought into the Government held areas between the period of April 19 to 22. The Government is also determined to bring out the rest of the people safely from the No Fire Zone, Bogollagama added.

Akashi further said on the eve of his departure back to Tokyo that it was tragedy of the LTTE that they had boycotted the Tokyo Declaration which could have restored peace in Sri Lanka long ago. He believed that the LTTE would let the people in its territory go to Government controlled areas at least at this belated point of time heeding to requests from the international community.

He announced that the Government of Japan was extending an assistance of US $ 4 million for the relief and rehabilitation process and was hoping to work in coordination with the Sri Lankan Government.

He said he visited welfare centres in Vavuniya where the Internally Displaced People are housed and found that the Government was faced with a big challenge due to the sudden influx of a large number of refugees in a very short period of time.

But the Government with its limited resources was coping with the situation and the different government and UN agencies were working in co-ordination towards improving the condition of the IDPs.

The Minister of Resettlement was spending more time in the refugee centres than in his Colombo office, he said.

He expressed optimism that the people of the South collecting relief stocks for the displaced Tamil people would lead to reconciliation and harmony in the country.