1,200 displaced Tamils to be resettled in Kilinochchi

Over a year after Kilinochchi district was liberated from the LTTE, the Sri Lankan Army today started the process of resettling Tamil civilians displaced due to the war in the former de-facto capital of the Tamil Tigers.

In the first phase, 1,200 civilians, who have been living in several camps in northern Lanka since January, 2009 will be resettled in and around Kilinochchi, which was captured by the Sri Lankan Army on January 2, 2009 after eight months of intense fighting.

The government also provided the civilians with dry rations sufficient for six months, financial assistance and agrarian and fisheries equipment.

Measures have also been taken to develop infrastructure facilities in the area, officials of the ministry of disaster relief services and resettlement said.

It also said only 82,000 of the total 2.93 lakh displaced civilians are to be resettled in their towns and villages.

Sri Lanka started resettling Tamils civilians in their towns and villages since September last year, four months after curtains came down on the 30-year-old civil war in the country.

Nearly 1,69,891 civilians had been resettled in their original places  in Vavuniya, Jaffna, Mannar, and Trincomalee,
officials said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has increased its assistance by $28.59 million to continue the resettlement of the displaced civilians.