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People returning to Muttur

B. Muralidhar Reddy

Have to prove identity for entry into town

MUTTUR: After spending over five weeks as refugees, some of the families of this town have begun to return home despite having reservations about their safety and security.

The first batch of families arrived in the town on Thursday morning in a convoy of government buses amidst heavy security. Muttur, the theatre of intense gun battles between the Sri Lanka military and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the first week of August, became a ghost town after 50,000 people fled it.

Major factors

The fall of the strategic town of Sampur to Government forces and pressure from the Government were two major factors which made some families to consider returning home despite apprehensions.

Marks of shelling

Most of the educational and religious institutions, where people had gathered in the midst of the gun battles, bore marks of shelling.

Ironically, those returning have to provide new identity proof to the authorities. Their entry is assured only if they have certificates from the refugee camps where they stayed since August 8.

Queues of people with slips of identity issued by the camps could be seen outside the city where the military and the police have set up check points to regulate entry and exit of citizens.

"No end to woes"

"There is no end to our woes. First we ran away from our homes much against our wishes and moved into wherever we could in the nearby areas. Now authorities want us to prove our identity on the basis of where we were forced to flee and live," complained a distraught citizen.

Taking no chances

The Government has its reasons for the new security drill in the town. Fresh from the surprise the Tamil Tigers sprung on it, the administration does not want to take any chances.

"The situation was so chaotic then that people fled the town leaving everything behind. How do we make sure that undesirable elements do not sneak into the town in the name of the displaced," said one official.

The Government is very keen that all displaced citizens from Muttur and its vicinity get back to their homes at the earliest. Mass movement of citizens, particularly of Muslims, from the strategic town has attracted the international community's attention and is fraught with adverse consequences for the Government.

"In the last few days at the displaced camps we have had friendly and not so friendly calls from the authorities advising us to leave the camps in our own interest. We have seen the NGOs dramatically disappear from the scene leaving us to fend for ourselves. Obviously, they have been conveyed a message from various quarters not to continue with their interest in the displaced camps," said Ramiza Bibi, who is staying at a camp.

Silence

Queries on the circumstances under which 17 national workers of a French NGO were killed in August are met with silence. Authorities are unwilling to speak on the subject, which has raised international alarm.

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