140,000 IDPs resettled in East

Rasika Somarathna

The Government was able to resettle 140,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the East within a short span of one year, with the entire process being 100 per cent voluntary, Minister for Disaster Management and Human Rights Mahinda Samarasinghe said at the launch of the seventh RCC on disaster management.

The seventh Regional Consultative Committee meeting on Disaster Management got off the ground in Colombo on Thursday with the participation of Representatives from 38 Asian member nations.

Minister Samarasinghe delivering the key-note address, noted that the number of IDPs in the East displaced due to the conflict, had been brought down from 160,000 a year back to 20,000.

Elaborating on the importance of the process being 100 per cent voluntary and on the subject of creating a conducive environment for the displaced to return, the Minister said the Government had adhered to all international norms when undertaking the mission.

However, the real challenge comes in the form of identifying avenues of such disasters and conflicts by the Authorities beforehand in the future, while taking viable steps to apply methods of prevention and mitigation, the Minister said.

He added that the Government was in the process of forming such a mechanism with all available resources.

The seventh meeting of the RCC is to continue for three days in Colombo with deliberations taking place under the theme of Rights-based Community-led disaster risk, with a special session on the initiatives taken by Sri Lanka in disaster risk reduction.