“No one is showing any interest at all in resettling the Vanni Internally Displaced Persons or consider their miserable lives, being detained in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) internment camps,” representatives of the Peoples’ Committee for Peace and Goodwill (PCPG) Jaffna, led by Jaffna Bishop Rt. Rev. Thomas Saundaranayagam, told Dr. Packiyasothy Saravanamuthu, the head of Colombo based Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Sunday at Jaffna Bishop’s house. A team led by the head of CPA arrived in Jaffna to attend to matters related to the monitoring of the forthcoming Jaffna Municipal Council (JMC) election, sources in Jaffna said.
“The Vanni IDPs, for no fault of theirs, are continued to be detained in camps which lack basic facilities; they continue to suffer from diseases and malnutrition; pregnant mothers, children and the elderly are the most affected while so many preventable deaths occur due to lack of medical facilities or treatment,” PCPG representatives further said.
“Government ministers and officials visiting Jaffna for election campaigning continue to offer promises but conditions in Jaffna peninsula remain unchanged without any progress. Despite the lavish promises restrictions continue; A9 land route remains closed to public use,” they told the CPA team.
PCPG representatives also pointed to the instances of open breach of election regulations that continue in Jaffna.
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