BCGR to rehabilitate 12,000 ex-LTTE cadres
by Uditha KUMARASINGHE
The Bureau of the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation (BCGR) has
initiated a comprehensive program for the purpose of rehabilitating and
re-integrating approximately 12,000 ex-LTTE cadres who either
surrendered or were forced to surrender during the final stages of the
conflict.With 11,698 ex-combatants identified and earmarked for
rehabilitation, the BCGR has decided that its mission is "unwavering
commitment to motivate the misguided armed personnel who surrendered to
the Government of Sri Lanka and transform them as useful personnel in
society through the implementation of comprehensive rehabilitation and
reintegration programs that promote their best interest," a spokesman
for the Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Ministry told the Sunday
Observer.
He said the BCGR had to undertake a mixed gender population of
11,698, of which 594 (363 male and 231 female) or 4.7 percent are
children, many of whom had been conscripted as child soldiers. The
balance were housed at schools, Government buildings and make shift
centres till the construction of Protective Accommodation and
Rehabilitation Centres (PARCs) were completed.
Thereafter, BCGR is following a policy based on a three-pronged
approach, "rehabilitate, prosecute or release" depending on the duration
and the degree of the individual's involment with the LTTE, he said.
According to the spokesman over 3,000 ex-combatants have been released
from August 2009 to date. They belong to the following
categories:university students, children, sick and disabled cadres,
court-ordered releases, pregnant mothers, mothers with infants and
people with minor involvement with the LTTE. They have been released for
further education and reunification with their families.The spokesman
further said as of June 31, 2010, 8,057 beneficiaries are being
accommodated in the following PARCs: Technical College at Nellikkulam,
Dharmapuram Camp, Tamil Primary College at Vavuniya, Omantai Maha
Vidyalaya (to be converted as a Temporary Detention Centre), Pompaimadu
Zone 1 (Peace Village), Marudamadu, Thellippalai Centre, Welikanda
Centre, Kandakadu Army Farm, Triconamadu Air Force Farm, Co-operative
Training Centre at Poonthottam and Pompaimadu Campus Hostel Centre.
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