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| Monday, 19 April 2004 |
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Trincomalee correspondent The LTTE released 40 child soldiers in its custody to the UNICEF at Sampur on Saturday. Trincomalee district political leader of the LTTE S.Tilak handed over the child soldiers aged between 12 and 17 to the Trincomalee district head of the UNICEF Gabriella Elroy. There were 31 female and nine male child soldiers. Elroy said UNICEF has taken upon itself the responsibility of looking after the interests of the released child soldiers. While thanking the LTTE for the gesture, she called upon the organisation to release any remaining child soldiers from its custody. Tilak said a majority of the children joined the LTTE mainly due to poverty. A few enlisted after having runaway from homes following quarrels with parents. He said the UNICEF had not taken steps to rehabilitate the child soldiers of the last batch and there is a possibility that they may come back and join the LTTE. He requested the UNICEF to mainly provide educational facilities to the children. All released child soldiers are from the Trincomalee district and they were handed over to their parents yesterday on Sunday (18). Last week the UNICEF facilitated the release of nearly 150 former child soldiers by the LTTE in Vakkarai. UNICEF's representative in Sri Lanka Ted Chaiban said "UNICEF welcomes the release of these children and will provide support to them and their families to make reintegrating back into their communities as smooth as possible. |
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