East’s Tamil civilians in Forces’ safe hands

Rohan Mathes

COLOMBO: The re-settlement process in the East is underway and displaced Tamil civilians are now in Government Forces’ safe hands, Defence Spokesman Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said.

Rambukwella told a press briefing at the Media Centre for National Security yesterday that innocent Tamils whom the LTTE held as a ‘Human Shield’, were now free from the LTTE’s grip.

“They have rallied round the Armed Forces and sought refuge and protection from them. The Government has achieved a great victory in persuading and convincing the innocent Tamil civilians that they would be well cared for and their security well ensured in their best interest. “They are very happy now with our security personnel,” he said.

Rambukwella reiterated that the liberation of Vakarai sans any casualties was a major breakthrough per se, and the Tamil polity was now distancing itself from the grip of the LTTE terrorists, with the firm belief that the concept of Eelam is a mere myth and that Prabhakaran will never be their ‘saviour’ as proclaimed.

“The Government’s democratic process of pursuing a negotiated and political solution to the conflict is also what they look forward to,” he said. Rambukwella stressed that around 16,000 Tamil civilians are to be re-settled in the Vakarai area. Around 10,000 have been settled in cleared areas of Thoppigala sans any casualties, and around 8,000 are to be re-settled in Trincomalee. In the Government’s endeavour to maintain law and order, they have set up a Police post in Vakarai as one of their initial exercises, he said.

The provision of basic amenities such as sanitation and infrastructure facilities will be looked into with immediate effect, the Minister said adding that the Tamil community there will not suffer any deficiency of what their counterparts in the South enjoy.

He noted however that the East is not 100 per cent under Government control yet.

Geographically, about 85 per cent of the land area has been liberated and around 90 per cent of Tamil civilians have moved and taken refuge in Government controlled areas.