LTTE harassed fleeing girls - UN
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had forcibly cut the hair
of girls trying to flee the conflict during the last stages of the war
to mislead the military into thinking they were Tiger cadres, a latest
UN report said.
“Some women and girls trying to flee the conflict areas had their
hair forcibly cut by the LTTE as a deterrent to fleeing, knowing that
women with short hair would be suspected by the Sri Lankan Army of being
LTTE cadres and would likely be treated differently from other
internally displaced persons,” stated a report from the UN Secretary
General’s Office, handed over to the UN Security Council on Children and
Armed Conflict.
The report said some young girls were forced by their families to
marry their relatives to avoid forced recruitment by LTTE during the
final stages of the war.
Meanwhile, the annual report which had once listed the LTTE and the
Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) as outfits involved in child
recruitment, now does not have their names listed with the end of the
war.
The report also states that there has been no evidence of significant
recruitment by the TMVP in 2009. In the districts of Killinochchi and
Mullaitivu, 199 cases of children killed and 146 cases of children
maimed were reported from January 1, 2009 to May 19, 2009, although the
actual number of casualties is likely to be higher, the report added.
The Annual Report gives an overview of the situation of children
affected by conflict and action taken for their protection over the
reporting period. In mid-June the report will be discussed in the
Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict.
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