Another batch of Vavuniyaa IDPs to be detained in the islets of Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 25 September 2009, 04:12 GMT]
Around 500 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) held in the internment camps in Vavuniyaa brought to Jaffna Thursday were handed over to Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) who took them to Kaarainakar, in the islets of Jaffna to be again detained in camps close to the SLN base. The IDPs are being held in Ma’raignanasampanthar Vithiyaalayam in Kaarainakar while the SLN is constructing new camps in the abandoned civilian settlements to detain them, sources in Jaffna said.

Nearly 1500 IDPs from Vavuniyaa brought to Jaffna earlier in two batches have been detained in camps in Veala’nai and Oorkaavatu’rai under the direct control of SLN, in the islets of Jaffna.

The government and SLN along with certain Tamil political parties are showing a keen interest in detaining these IDPs in areas under full control of the SLN with political motives, civil society sources in Jaffna said.

Meanwhile, Defence Ministry announced that Beach Road in Kozhumpuththu’rai in Jaffna will be opened for public use from Thursday saying that the stretch of the above road from CEYNOR jetty to Kozhumpuththu’rai Thu’ndi can be used by the public.

This road had been closed for public use after Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied Jaffna in 1995.