Over 108,000 IDPs resettled

by Dhaneshi Yatawara

Over 108,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have been already resettled in the Eastern Province and another 50,136 people are yet to be resettled in their original homes, according to a statistics report compiled by the Foreign Ministry recently.

The Government has made all arrangements for these 50,136 displaced people to return and settle in their original homes as soon as those areas are cleared of land mines. The Ministry of Nation Building and Estate Infrastructure Development and the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) conducted the survey.

The number of Internally Displaced Persons due to clashes since January 2006 is reportedly 51,146 families which comprises 187,356 people.

The resettlement of IDPs takes place according to international standards which have been acknowledged by the international community including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

In the Northern Province 137,220 people were displaced since January 2006, due to clashes which prevailed. Around 90,000 Muslims in Jaffna became internally displaced overnight when the LTTE evicted them from Jaffna in 1990. According to statistics, 50,136 people have been displaced in the Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts of the Eastern Province, since January 2006.