Fleeing civilians treated with dignity

Irangika RANGE

The Government has ensured that civilians fleeing from the No Fire Zone are treated with dignity and respect, Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.

Commissioning a new factory for maintaining railway carriages transporting goods and passengers in Maradana, the Minister said it was necessary to ensure dignity to these innocent civilians since they were taken hostage by the ruthless LTTE leader Prabhakaran for the last 30 years.

"These civilians who had undergone untold hardships and sufferings due to terrorism during the last few decades, are totally free now and willing to be members of a single Sri Lankan family," he said. The Minister also asked media to refrain from calling them refugees saying only Prabhakaran fits the label in this highly distressed condition.

He said that the Government has undertaken the responsibility of looking after the civilians and the Armed Forces have shown their humanity to the entire world by protecting civilians even sacrificing their own lives.

The Minister said Sri Lankans are very sensitive people. "Our people are currently sending the bulk of cooked meals, dry rations and other essential items to their counterparts in the North," he said. He challenged Prabhakaran for a face to face fight with the Security Forces without destroying their own community.

He said that the international community has no right to intervene unnecessarily in this process since it is purely an internal matter for us. "We will never be subjected to any outside pressure," he said.

Commenting on the Government's decision to stop using heavy weapons and combat aircraft in the NFZ, the Minister said the use of such weapons would cause a lot of harm to civilians as they are trapped in a small strip of territory.

The Minister said this decision was not made based on any international pressure. He said over 1,500 civilians have crossed over to the Government held areas after this decision.