From: mvishnu@bcr1.uwaterloo.ca (Meenan Vishnu)
Subject: TE News
Originator: mvishnu@bcr1.waterloo.edu
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 16:32:31 GMT



   07/29 1444  INDIA TO RESTART REPATRIATING TAMIL REFUGEES TO SRI LANKA

    COLOMBO, SRI LANKA (JULY 29) IPS - India is expected to resume
   repatriating  Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu state starting
   either August or September, a rehabilitation ministry official
   said monday.
       The return of Sri Lankans under a joint Indo-Lanka program was
   temporarily suspended after allegations that the refugees were
   being coerced to return to this island's war-torn north and east
   provinces where Tamil rebels are fighting for independence.
       Around 30,000 of the estimated 220,000 Sri Lankans in and
   outside refugee camps in southern Tamil Nadu state had initially
   opted to return home, the repatriation process began in January,
   and so far 23,109 refugees have returned, says Mames Felix of the
   Ministry of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Social Welfare.
       The refugees arrived by ship in eastern Trincomalee and
   northwestern Talaimannar, both port towns.
       They were then taken to what officials call "holding camps"
   where they were put up until they could return to the homes they
   were forced to abandon. Millions of Sri Lankans have been
   displaced by a prolonged civil war in the island's north and east.
       Only 632 returnees remain in the government-run camps in
   Trincomalee as their homes are still within the war zone.
       Some 1012 refugees are sheltering in a relief center north of
   Mannar which is run jointly by the government and UNHCR, the
   United Nation's organization for refugee relief.
       Felix explains that 945 others are in a smaller welfare center
   called Sunny Village, maintained by Colombo.
       The bulk of the returnees were ferried across on Indian ships.
   During the latter phase of repatriation, Indian Airlines, the
   domestic airline, operated 23 special flights from Madras to
   Trincomalee to transport refugees.
       Indian high commission officials in Colombo say the operation
   was suspended because of heavy monsoon rains. But Sri Lankan
   officials think flak from the UNHCR for forcing unwilling refugees
   to leave is a more likely explanation.
       Meanwhile, the "Hindu" newspaper in New Delhi reported today
   that India and the UNHCR are likely to sign in Geneva this week an
   agreement to speed up the process of Sri Lankan refugees.
       India has agreed to allow UNHCR access to refugee camps in the
   south. The organization wants to be sure that the returnees are
   leaving on their own volition.
       The agreement will also secure the agency's cooperation in
   resettling returning Tamils in Sri Lanka. This is good news for
   cash-strapped Colombo which has said it cannot afford the burden
   of resettlement on its own.
       Bradman Weerakoon, special advisor on international affairs to
   the Sri Lankan president, told reporters earlier that the
   government would welcome UNHCR assistance.
       "It would help us financially and also give returning refugees
   a feeling of safety with the UNHCR assistance," he said.


Meenan Vishnu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil