Top UN official in Colombo today

Rasika Somarathna

Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on the human rights of Internally Displaced Persons Walter Kalin is expected in Sri Lanka today to participate in a three day conference on Human Rights matters pertaining to IDPs in Sri Lanka.

The conference is to take place in Colombo under the stewardship of Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe on September 23, 24, and 25.

Ministry sources said matters pertaining to IDPs displaced up to 2006 would be given precedence according to an earlier arrangement. However issues regarding the displaced due to military operations too are expected to figure during the three day summit.

According to Ministry sources, the main focus would revolve around addressing the human rights concerns about 72,000 IDPs who were displaced prior to 2006 with Puttalam district accounting for roughly 22,000 and another 50,000 from the North and East.

Several Key Government officials including Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa, Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Minister Rishard Badurdeen and several other Ministers, high profile officials along with UN agency representatives are expected to figure in the deliberations.

Appointed at the request of the Commission on Human Rights to address Human Rights issues of IDPs, Kalin is mandated to engage in dialogue and advocacy with the Government and other actors concerning the rights of IDPs.

He is also responsible for strengthening the international response to internal displacement, and mainstream human rights throughout the UN system.

His role also includes promoting and disseminating the rights articulated in the Guiding Principles on IDPs, undertaking country visits, engaging Governments and other actors with regard to specific situations of Internal Displacement, sponsoring national and regional seminars, engaging UN agencies and departments, undertaking research on issues of IDPs’ human rights, and reporting annually to the Commission on Human Rights and General Assembly.