Tigers target O/L repeaters for recruitment
Ranil Wijayapala
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Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara
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Colombo: The LTTE has once again intensified its forcible recruitment
drive this time depriving the education rights of those who sat for the
Ordinary Level exam, Military Spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said
yesterday.
"Intelligence reports from Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts
indicate that the LTTE is now recruiting schoolchildren who have failed
the G.C.E. O/L examination," the Brigadier added. "It is pathetic to
note that the LTTE is depriving these innocent children the chance to
sit for the examination for the second time."
The LTTE facing a severe shortage of manpower has intensified the
forcible recruitment drive by making it compulsory to recruit two
members from one family living in Wanni.
Many people in Wanni especially the families having teenagers are
fleeing the uncleared areas to protect their children as there is a
tendency to recruit children once they complete 18 years even depriving
their higher education opportunities.
Earlier, the LTTE prevented youth selected to undergo higher
education in Southern universities by urging them to surrender a member
of their family to get clearance from the LTTE if they are to proceed to
their respective universities.
A large number of such students arrived in the South through the
Omanthai entry-exit point last year. According to Brigadier Nanayakkara
358 civilians have already arrived in the cleared areas in Vavuniya and
Mannar since January 1, this year in a bid to protect their children
from being recruited by the LTTE.
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