Thousand Tamil families flee Muttur, Seruvila villages

[TamilNet, Friday, 13 January 2006, 12:27 GMT]
More than one thousand families have fled from their homes in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) controlled divisions of Muttur and Seruvila in the Trincomalee district due to harassment and intimidation allegedly by the government troops manning sentries located in their villages and have sought refuge in schools and with their relatives in the LTTE held areas, social service activists said.

Families from Manatsenai, Periyaweli, Barathipuram, are given shelter in the Poonagar Agrarian Services Centre in Eachchilampathu division.

Eachchilampathu Virucham, a non-governmental organization and Eachchilampathu Peoples Development Organization are providing cooked meals and other relief.

Another group of about 210 families are given temporary accommodation in schools in Thangapuram, Pallikuddiruppu.

About two thousand Tamil people have sought refuge in Killiveddy Maha Vidiyalayam, sources further said.

Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) has deployed its volunteers in Eachchilampathu and other areas to supply cooked meals to refugees. TRO has sent a stock of mattresses and bed sheets to be supplied for the displaced, sources said.

Eachchilampathu Divisional Secretariat has taken steps to supply dry rations for the displaced families, sources said.

Tension prevails in Tamil villages, which are located close to army camps following several incidents of harassment by soldiers and home guards, sources said