TRO issues details of cluster-bombed IDP camp

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 December 2008, 09:15 GMT]
The Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO), in a press release disseminated on Wednesday said the IDP camp subjected to cluster bombardment by the Sri Lanka Air Force at Uzhavanoor in Vanni was located within the area declared by the Government of Sri Lanka as "safe zone" and that the IDP camp was constructed and maintained by the TRO and local NGO REERDO for families that had been displaced due to the Government of Sri Lanka's ongoing military offensive into Vanni.

The settlement was named Tharumapuram Kallaru Ranimayanathan Scheme or Uzhavanoor Kudiyiruppu settlement, the TRO said in its press statement.

The temporary housing settlement that was attacked on 29 November was constructed and is maintained by TRO and local NGO REERDO for families that had been displaced due to the Government of Sri Lanka’s (GoSL) ongoing military offensive into the Vanni. The settlement was set up in an area that the GoSL had declared to be a “safe zone” at the beginning of November.

These IDPs were also affected by Cyclone Nisha’s floodwaters last week and were being provided with cooked food and other support by TRO.

After the bombing, TRO helped to transport the injured to hospitals in the area.

TRO also covered the expenses of the funeral and the final rites for the two persons killed in the bombing.

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