8. Problems faced by the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Vavuniya 

Internally Displaced Persons in Vavuniya though protected and provided with their basic needs yet are being confined and harassed by the Security forces. The state officials are not looking into their problems sympathetically and at times are acting in an irresponsible manner.

Here with we reproduce a report of a recent visit to Vavuniya by one of our staff

These persons in the welfare centers face a lot of problems.

  1. All these Centers are over crowded. There is no privacy in these camps. All are living together in small portions. This causes a lot of problems among them. If the situation is not suitable for their resettlement or rehabilitation, they must be atleast properly accommodated in separate cottages.

  2. There is water shortage in these centers. This creates hygienic problems and health hazards. This has to be remedied immediately. Bad odor emanating from the toilets is causing environmental problems.

  3. All displaced persons in the welfare centers are not treated equally. Those who have 5 members or less than five members are given cash dole at the rate of Rs. 35 for an adult and Rs. 20 for those who are below 12 years old for a day. If a family consists of more than five members they are given only dry rations. They are not given cash dole. These families have been demanding cash dole instead of dry ration but the authorities have not taken any steps to remedy this situation. We are told that in Poonthodam Camps some families have been boycotting the dry ration for some months and are undergoing untold hardships.

    4. We feel that all displaced families should be given cash dole. There should not be any discrimination between the big families and small families.

  4. All inmates are given three-month pass to live in Vavuniya, but daily they have to obtain a pass to go out of the camp. This pass system makes life miserable for them. They have to give surety to get a pass to accompany or look after a sick person in Anuradhapura. Even to bring a dead body from outstation they are asked to bring a surety to issue pass. Persons who stand as surety in Vavunia always demand money that too runs to about thousands of rupees. Pass system and other various constraints help few people to become rich. There is no law to restrict the freedom of movement in Sri Lanka. This illegal system must be removed.

  5. Very often these camps have been rounded up to conduct cordon and search operation by the security forces. They take away some of them. This causes panic among the Internally displaced persons in Vavunia.

  6. Police personnel, who are stationed in these welfare centers, are Sinhalese and the inmates have difficulty in communicating with them. This too causes problem for the smooth functioning of the camps. They want Tamil policemen including women police in all these camps.

  7. They all want to get back to their original places. Most of them are from Jaffna. They want to get back to their houses in Jaffna. Early arrangements should be made for them to get back to their original places.

Government should ensure that the Internally Displaced Persons are protected and provided at least with their basic needs such as housing, food, water and health facilities. We attach herewith lists of the Internally Displaced Persons living in various camps.

The problems faced by these unfortunate and unprivileged uprooted humans have to be given a humane touch.