Countering terrorism and healing wounds

Statement by Disaster Management and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe MP, at the 60th Session of the Executive Committee of the UNHCR Geneva, Switzerland on Monday.

Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe

The Government’s objectives with regard to IDPs can be encapsulated in the following terms as expressed by the Prime Minister in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York on September 26. He said: “With the defeat of the LTTE in May this year, nearly 290,000 civilians in the Vanni were liberated from the decades - long hold of the LTTE. One of our highest priorities thereafter has been to meet the immediate humanitarian needs of these displaced civilians, and to ensure their long-term safe, voluntary and dignified return to their homes.

The welfare of our people in temporary transit sites must keep up with standards that meet our own high expectations as well as accepted international norms. This task has been facilitated by the assistance we receive from UN agencies, international and local civil society partners and donors.”

The Representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of IDPs, Professor Walter Kalin was in Sri Lanka for a three-day visit which concluded over the weekend. He was able to observe, at first hand, the conditions in the welfare villages and the preparations for accelerated resettlement in Mannar District including de-mining and restoration of vital infrastructure that will sustain and stabilize resettlement and return.

Professor K„lin is one international partner of Sri Lanka who has forged a constructive relationship with the country based on open dialogue and frank acknowledgement of the positives as well as the shortcomings that need to be remedied.

We welcome such engagement and the sharing of best practice by international experts so that we, as a Government, can develop and fine-tune our responses to challenges that we are called upon to face. We have taken serious note of the concerns expressed by Professor K„lin and other friends and partners relating to the conditions in the camps, the issues surrounding freedom of movement and other prote

ction issues.

With the defeat of terrorism, the Government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is doing its utmost to reconstruct the foundations of a peaceful, democratic social order throughout the territory of the Sri Lankan nation. Reconciliation and development form an integral part of this exercise. Key to the success of the overall initiative is the treatment and eventual resettlement and return of IDPs who are among the worst affected by the conflict.

As the Disaster Management Minister, I view the return to normal life of these persons as critical in terms of prevention and mitigation of potential future conflict. Terrorism and civil strife are among the worst man-made disasters.

This is why we place such great emphasis on a comprehensive plan to redevelop infrastructure in war affected areas and ensure that these areas are safe and secure prior to resettling persons. We are aware that there are trained and formerly active members of the LTTE among the IDPs.

Those who have identified themselves and have given themselves up are being housed in special rehabilitation centres and a separate office was created - that of the Commissioner-General for Rehabilitation - to cater to their rehabilitation.

The Ministry has taken the initiative to put together an all encompassing policy framework which will take a broad view of social and economic reintegration of ex-combatants. Action plans are being developed by national stakeholders and will be formally adopted later this week to actualize this policy framework. We have worked closely with ILO and UNDP in this initiative.

These ex-combatants too will have the opportunity to become full and productive partners in building the new Sri Lanka envisioned by President Rajapaksa.

There are still some persons among the IDPs who have not disclosed their former affiliation with the LTTE. These persons pose a risk not only to the IDPs with whom they are intermingled but, if released, can cause destabilization and chaos amongst civilians elsewhere in the country. It is for this reason that we have been very careful about releases and permitting full freedom of movement.

The Government has a responsibility to guarantee the human rights of the entirety of the Sri Lankan population - not only the rights of the IDPs. Allowing LTTE cadres, masquerading as ordinary displaced civilians, freedom of movement could pose a grave threat to people in the rest of the country. The global community knows only too well the atrocities committed by the LTTE against civilian populations.

Given the sizeable stores of arms, ammunition and explosives being recovered on a daily basis in the former theatre of conflict and outside that area, the ability of the remnants of the LTTE to carry out indiscriminate acts of terrorism must not be underestimated. This does not mean that attempts to characterize the welfare centres and relief villages as “internment camps” are in any way justified.

Basic needs are provided to IDPs Picture by Kavindra Perera

Limited freedom of movement has been permitted and with the completion of screening, registration and profiling of IDPs, greater freedom of movement would be gradually ensured.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, we have released certain categories of persons and plans are under way to invite more persons among the general public to come forward and take care of IDPs. Indeed, advertisements have been placed in national newspapers, especially Tamil Language newspapers, inviting suitable persons to apply to host IDPs. The first round resulted in nearly 2,000 applications which are being processed and more notifications, including within the welfare centres and relief villages, will follow.

More than 23,000 persons have been released for return and resettlement in Jaffna, Ampara, Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Vavuniya and Mannar Districts. A further 9,000 persons belonging to special categories have been handed over to persons or institutions that will care for them.

These include orphaned children, members of the clergy and their family members, persons over 60 years of age, university students, public servants and their families, pregnant women and disabled persons. We have undertaken to return or resettle the bulk of the IDPs by January 31, commensurating with the 180 day program for re-settlement.

The authorities in charge of maintaining the camps have also put in place a system of day-passes whereby IDPs who need to attend to specific wants, ranging from attending a family wedding to visiting their bank in a nearby town, can leave the camps for a limited period of time.

Furthermore, “go and see visits” are being organized for the rest of the IDPs to ensure that eventual return and resettlement is voluntary and based on an informed choice. This is not typical of the treatment of persons in so-called internment camps.

The return and resettlement program can only be completed when demining can be completed and we expect to be able to report on major advances in this area during the coming weeks.

The acquisition of 10 new flailing machines, using Government funds will enable us to clear much more ground and obtain necessary certification from the United Nations agencies concerned.

According to the initial survey carried out by the Information Management System on Mine Action, it is estimated that nearly 1.5 million landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) contaminate an area of 402 sq km. Since the beginning of January 2009, de-mining of 25 small administrative divisions has been completed. According to the National Steering Committee on Mine Action, de-mining in 15 divisions in Musali, Manthai West and the Rice bowl area of Mannar covering 80 sqkm have commenced and clearance is on-going. De-mining of the Rice bowl area is expected to be complete by Mid-October to enable further resettlement.

In the District Vavuniya, 35 divisions have already been cleared and are ready for the resettlement of IDPs. De-mining activities in another 10 divisions is ongoing.

In Jaffna, de-mining in 14 divisions has been completed with de-mining activities in a further 19 divisions ongoing.

To be continued