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Approximately 183,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) have now been resettled in the North and East.

The result of a survey on IDPs would be available by the end of this year, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Minister Dr Jayalath Jayawardene told UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers at the UN Headquarters in Geneva on Thursday.

During discussions with UN officials including UNHCR Resident Representative in Colombo Neill Wright and Asia and the Pacific Bureau Director Jean-Marie Fakhouri, the Minister briefed them about voluntary and sustainable resettlement in Sri Lanka while protecting the rights of North-East residents. A separate Ministry was dealing with issue of refugees for the first time.

The Minister also stated that the Government was willing to obtain the services of medical and paramedical volunteers from South India to attend to urgent medical needs and sanitation problems of the IDPs and requested the UNHCR to assist the resettlement process by exploring the possibility of providing assistance to set up a policy planning unit at his Ministry. 

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