Sri Lankan President to release 130,000 Tamils by December Special

President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa has vowed to release 130,000 Tamils inside the internal displacement camps by December 1 and the camps will be completely closed by the end of January 2010.

On the same day as Tamils across the globe hold a “circle of hope” to protest the Sri Lankan government’s holding of hundreds of thousands of Tamils inside displacement camps, which have been described as “concentration camps,” Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, has vowed to release 130,000 Tamils from the detention camps as of December 1, 2009 and close down the camps entirely by January 31, 2010, according to Al Jazeera. President Rajapaksa’s advisor and brother, Basil Rajapaksa, also stated that as of December 1 the camps will be open completely to the international community and media agencies. The President’s brother made the announcement at the country’s largest camp, Menik Farm. Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Rajiva Wijesinha, told Al Jazeera, “This [releasing of refugees] is entirely in accordance with government policy. We made it very clear in May that we would resettle people as quickly as possible but we did have very serious security concerns.”

Andrew Moran

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The BBC reports that since the camps will not be closed from the public, Tamil prisoners will be able to leave every day or two. Currently, Tamils are held against their will, even though the Sri Lankan government states otherwise. However, officials have stated that some are kept against their will as detainees are screened for possible involvement with terrorist rebels. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the move on Saturday, as China View notes. The Secretary General issued a statement through his spokesperson, “The secretary-general welcomes the decision by the government of Sri Lanka to grant increased freedom of movement to internally displaced persons (IDPs) still residing in camps in northern Sri Lanka.” Nevertheless, officials within the United Nations are calling for furthering improving the conditions of the barbed-wire camps but John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told reporters after his four day visit to Colombo that he was pleased with the way the Sri Lankan government is conducting its affairs of sending the IDPs back to their homes and villages, “The commitment of the government to resettle the IDPs is encouraging.”

Andrew Moran

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As the Guardian reports, UNICEF spokesperson Sarah Crowe was also enlightened to hear the news and said the latest decision “welcomed.” However, she feels that since thousands of Tamils were locked up inside for six months that many of them will need time to adjust to their normal everyday routine again. She also believes that prisoners will need trauma counseling, especially for children who had to endure violence, abuse, both physical and sexual, and even brainwashing.

Andrew Moran

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What do some Tamils in Toronto feel about the situation? Well, some do not believe it, such as Dev Fakruddin, a Toronto Tamil demonstrator who feels that it’s too good to be true and that the Sri Lankan government has “lied so many times that it’s hard to keep track.” He further iterated that the international community has to stop being so naïve. “If what the President is saying is sincere and true then I am all for it but I am a strong pessimist when it comes to anything about their government. First they denied they had camps then they said there are camps but they’re only for a short period of time. Then they said they had camps for only a few months but the conditions were good and now they’re saying they’ll release some… it gets pretty tiring to state their positions on so many things. It’s like debating with one’s self.” Fakruddin concluded that if the news is genuine then he would like to thank the entire world for standing behind the Tamils. An election is due to be held in April and Reuters is reporting that many opposition parties are looking to back a possible challenger against President Rajapaksa.