The Government has expedited the resettlement of 97,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) living in welfare centres and with foster families in Vavuniya, from February 2. It was delayed due to the January 26 presidential polls. This does not include the forcibly evicted Muslim refugees in 1990 from North by LTTE.

Secretary to the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services U.L.M. Haldeen said that resettling IDPs was delayed for one-and-a-half months during the run up to the polls as the Government intended to give the IDPs their right to vote freely.

Following the instructions by the Commissioner of Elections, Dayananda Dissanayake, the Government Agents of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu provided facilities for the IDPs to vote. After May 19, last year, the Government sheltered nearly 300,000 IDPs, who were kept forcibly by the LTTE as hostages, in welfare camps in Vavuniya.

When asked about the January 31 deadline, in which the Government declared to resettle the entire IDP population, he said that no one had given an assurance about a deadline.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had given January 31 as the date to resettle all IDPs if the groundwork - mainly the de-mining was completed. He did not give any deadline as such but said that the Government would do its best”, he said.

Declining to give a deadline to send all Internally Displaced Persons home, Haldeen said that this depends on the progress of the de-mining of former LTTE held areas which were heavily mined. “ We have accelerated the de-mining with the help of the Army and other de-mining organisations”, he said.

He said that all IDPs who were resettled were provided with basic and infrastructure facilities. “All schools, hospitals and co-operative shops are functioning well. The administrative structure has been restored. Five schools have been re-opened in the Karachchi division, he said. According to statistics, over 10,995 IDPs in Mullaitivu and 17,814 IDPs in Kilinochchi have been resettled so far.

“This number will be higher as some IDPs stayed with their foster families including relatives, an official of the Competent Authority of Resettlement said. Government Agent Mullaitivu Emelda Sukumar said that after the presidential polls, IDPs were resettled expeditiously and over 1,086 families, who were with their relatives and foster families had been resettled in Thunukkai.

“Another batch of 1,000 families will be resettled in three Grama Sevaka divisions in Ottisudan”, she said.