1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
Israel-Hamas warUkraineBrandenburg

Sri Lanka Allows Tamil Refugees to Move Freely

01/12/09December 1, 2009

Thousands of Sri Lankan civilians held in state-run refugee camps poured out on Tuesday after the government opened the gates. An estimated 130,000 people have been living in the Manik Farm complex in the northern district of Vavuniya since the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels in May.

https://p.dw.com/p/Lrpu
Internally displaced ethnic Tamil refugees come out of camps in Manik Farm, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009.
Internally displaced ethnic Tamil refugees come out of camps in Manik Farm, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009.Image: AP

This is the first time in seven months that the government has allowed them to move freely. But many of these civilians are expected to remain in the camps, as their villages have been destroyed.

The government plans to resettle them by January next year.

Earlier the UN and rights groups criticised the Sri Lankan government for keeping the civilians in the camps against their will.

Skip next section Explore more

Explore more

Disha Uppal speaks to Vinya Ariyaratne, Executive Director of Sarvodaya, an NGO which has access to refugee camps

englisch: AC 0112 Sri Lanka LONG - Produziert: 01.12.2009 - 16:39:44 von Uppal
December 1, 200904:38 min