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| Saturday, 14 February 2004 |
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People of N-E must feel real dividend of peace by Rashomi Silva The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the agency mandated by the UN to promote the well-being of refugees and the Internally displaced (IDPs) worldwide, said yesterday that 345,734 IDPs amounted to 47 percent of the total IDP populations have returned to their point of origin by the end of last year. Meanwhile commenting on the political situation the UNHCR executive Committee Chairman Jean-Marc Boulgaris told a press conference in Colombo that the current political instability in Sri Lanka could adversely impact on the well-being of the IDPs. "The UNHCR's concern is that the uncertainty prevailing in the country after the dissolution of Parliament will adversely impact the refugees and the IDPs," said in a press conference held in Colombo. The longer the uncertainty and the instability prevails, the gap between what has been achieved (due to the peace process) and what is to be achieved will widen, he pointed out. However Boulgris said that the UNHCR still maintains that the conditions in the North-East are not conducive for a large scale re-settlement. If the real dividend of peace has to be felt by the people of North-East it has a long way to go, he said. The government encourages the return of the IDPs to their places of origin but is not keen on motivating them to integrate with the host community, he said. "But it was revealed in the survey conducted in mid 2002, that nearly 25 percent of all registered IDPs intended to remain in their place of displacement," a bulletin issued by the UN inter-agency IDP group said. Referring to the fund allocation by the UNHCR the official said the allocations were made expecting that the peace process would continue. He stressed it was upto the development agencies to continue the rehabilitation of the IDPs, once they are settled in the places of origin or integrated to the host community. With it's estimated 800,000 IDPs, Sri Lanka has one of the largest IDP populations in the world. According to UNHCR statics, Puttalam has the highest number of IDPs still living in welfare centres. |
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