UNICEF Child Protection team visits Jaffna

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 01 April 2008, 15:31 GMT]
UNICEF Child Protection Project residential representative in Colombo paid a visit to Jaffna Tuesday to learn first hand of the conditions of the children and mothers placed in the protective custody in Kurunakar Rehabiltation Centre due to death threats by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) troops and SLA-backed paramilitaries, sources in Jaffna said. The representative met Jaffna Magistrate R. T. Vicknarajah and explored ways to attend to the needs of the children placed in protective custody.

The UNICEF representative also visited Human Rights Commission (HRC) Jaffna and discussed the case of a minor who had recently surrendered to HRC Jaffna, sources close to the HRC said.

The minor, a resident of Aavarangkaal in Puththoor, had been recently released by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and had resumed to normal life, the sources said.

HRC officials, however, have not released any information about the surrender of the above minor.

UNICEF team took a keen interest in the needs of the children in Kurunakar Rehabilitation Centre, particularly their education and welfare, civil society sources said.

UNICEF provides the children in Kurunakar Rehabilitation Centre with material for their education in schools close to the Centre, besides transport facility.