Repatriation of Lankan displaced in TN to be expedited

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

External Affairs Ministry Secretary Karunathilaka Amunugama yesterday said the ministry has stepped up action to speed up the process of repatriation of Sri Lankan displaced in camps of Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka following the introduction of the National Action Plan to implement the LLRC.

Amunugama said steps will be taken through Sri Lanka’s Hiigh Commissioner in Chennai to work out the repatriation of displacedonce they confirm their consent to return to the country. “Our Deputy Commissioners have been instructed to provide necessary travel documents to those refugees who will indicate their willingness to be repatriated,” he said.

'Meanwhile, the ministries of External Affairs, Defence, Resettlement, Lands and Land Development are in the process of formulating a policy with regard to them,”Amunugama said. “Even India cannot ask them to leave without their consent. What we can do here is to facilitate their travel by enabling them to procure necessary documents and providing them lands for resettlement,” he explained.

“Over 800 Sri Lankan refugees arrived in Sri Lanka from Tamil Nadu recently. They have been resettled in the the North and East,” said Amunugama. “We have to formulate a policy which covers all types of repatriation, including those failed asylum seekers,”he said.

“Bilateral talks will be held with the Indian government with regard to their repatriation soon. Arrangements will be made to bring them home with the support of the Indian government using new ships and flights after bilateral negotiations,”he said. Since the release of the National Action Plan to implement LLRC recommendations, immediate attention has been drawn towards the repatriation of refugees in Tamil Naadu camps, “he said.