An international rights group on Wednesday urged world leaders to call on Sri Lanka to free hundreds of thousands of displaced people detained in camps since the island’s civil war ended.
New York-based Human Rights watch urged leaders to raise the issue with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake when he participates in the UN General Assembly sessions this week.
"The civilians locked up in these detention camps have a right to liberty now, not when the government gets around to it," said Brad Adams, Asia director for the group.
The government must address the issues of alleged disappearances of camp inhabitants, the inability to reunite with family in other camps, and the lack of monitoring and health care.
Nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamils are held in military-run camps where their movements are restricted, rights groups say, and impending monsoon rains could create health crises in these low-lying, congested camps.
UN official B. Lynn Pascoe, who visited Sri Lanka last week, expressed concern over the lack of pace in resettlement.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow TNN on Facebook and Twitter )