Vanni students in protest march

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 March 1999, 20:11 GMT]
More than 4000 students in the Vanni participated in a procession organised by the Students Union of Vanni said sources. According to the organisers, the event had been organised to protest against the Sri Lankan government's cut in relief aid to displaced people in the region and disruption of students' education due to military operations.

At the end of the procession, the students handed over a memorandum to the Save the Children Fund representative in Mallavi. The memorandum was addressed to the United Nations, the Save the Children Fund in Geneva and to the head quarters of the SCF.

The procession started from Yogapuram School and ended at the office of the UNHCR there the sources said.

Meanwhile several hundred displaced people in the Vanni participated in the hunger strike for the 148th day in Mallavi in front of the office of the UNHCR, according to the sources in Vanni.