11,000 Still Held In Sri Lankan Internment Camps

Independent consultants have criticised the detention of almost 300,000 Tamils in internment camps. (Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images)

Children Among 11,000 Tamil ‘Fighters’ Held In Rehabilitation -- Times Online

Sri Lanka is holding more than 11,000 Tamil prisoners without charge in closely guarded “rehabilitation centres”, despite the Government’s claim that it released all Tamil civilians from detention centres this week.

The Times can reveal that the group of prisoners, whose exact number has been unknown since the Sri Lankan Government blocked access to them from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in July, is allegedly a “combatant category” that includes former Tamil Tiger (LTTE) fighters.

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My Comment: One can speculate on who is who in this group of 11,000 Tamil prisoners .... but I would bet there are some very hard core and dangerous men in this group, and the Sri Lankan Government is not going to release them on promises that they will not return to the fight.

My guess .... I believe that many of the underage soldiers will be released soon, but many of the older men are going to be held for a very very long time.

Sri Lanka's War Refugee Camps Are Now Open

Tamil War Refugees Free To Move, Says Sri Lanka -- Sydney Morning Herald

ABOUT 130,000 Sri Lankan Tamil war refugees held in guarded camps have been allowed freedom of movement for the first time since the civil war ended more than six months ago.

The military officer in charge of the giant camp at Manik Farm, Major-General Kamal Gunaratne, told the Herald yesterday it had been ''declared an open camp''.

''There are no restrictions on freedom of movement,'' he said. ''They can go out, they can visit their friends and relatives then they can come back.''

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More News On Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka opens up war refugee camps -- AP
Sri Lanka refugees happy to be free -- BBC
Sri Lanka war refugees leaving military camps -- BBC
Sri Lanka announces limited freedom for detained Tamil refugees -- The Guardian
Sri Lanka frees Tamils held in war camps -- AFP
Sri Lanka 'to open Tamil camps' -- Al Jazeera

Sri Lankan Internment Camps -- Trying To Control The Message

Tamil people at Kadirgamh camp in Sri Lanka in April.
Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

Unicef Worker James Elder Expelled From Sri Lanka Over Media Comments -- Times Online

The UN official who represents vulnerable children in the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war has been expelled for making adverse remarks, the Government said.

The move will heighten concerns that the refusal by President Rajapaksa to brook dissent is hindering the work of humanitarian groups, even though about 280,000 refugees from the former war zone being held in internment camps are in dire need of aid.

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More News On Sri Lanka's Internment Camps

Sri Lanka expels UN official who criticised camps -- The Guardian
Sri Lanka expels UN official over reported comment -- AP
Sri Lanka kicks out Australian UNICEF worker -- ABC News (Australia)
Sri Lanka Expelling Senior UN Official -- Voice of America
Sri Lanka expels UN official over war 'bias' -- AFP
UN fights Sri Lanka expulsion order -- The Independent

My Comment: The pictures that I have seen from these camps are truly horrendous. Tamils that I know in Montreal have also shown me video .... taken secretly .... of what these people go through on a daily basis.

In short .... it is a fight for survival.

It appears that the Sri Lankan Government has made the conscious decision to punish the civilians who were with the Tamil Tigers till the end. The fact that outside independent observers have not been permitted to enter these camps, only adds fuel to the fire on what is happening inside.

I consider the under-reporting of the post-Sri Lankan war coverage to be one of the tragedies of this conflict, a conflict that for many still continues.