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37,037 Tamil citizens registered, says Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: The number of people who have migrated from Sri Lanka’s five warn-torn districts to Colombo and its suburbs, which constitute the Western Province, since 2003 stands at 37,037, said the police on Monday.

A survey was conducted in 135 police stations on Sunday following a government directive making it mandatory for all citizens from the northern districts and living in and around Colombo to reregister.

The survey revealed that 37,037 individuals had come to the Western Province from the north during the past five years. Of them, 2,242 were new entries.

In all, 10,820 families were registered. The controversial move was expected to affect an estimated 1,00,000 people. However, the actual number is far below this estimate. The move was criticised by some political parties and civil society organisations on the ground that it amounted to “racial profiling” as an overwhelming majority of those marked out for registration are Tamils.

The government defended the order, saying it has the responsibility to protect the lives of innocent lives amid apprehensions that a “cornered” LTTE could target civilians in Colombo.

Separately, the Government Peace Secretariat has disclosed that Norway, the peace talks’ facilitator between the government and LTTE, “with more sensitivity to political developments than most, has now established contact also with Tamil democratic pluralist forces, whilst continuing with government approval to maintain its contacts with the LTTE.”

In a clarification over an article in the Geneva-based Human Rights Journal, the Peace Secretariat maintained that Norwegian Minister Eric Solheim, who facilitated the peace process until recently, has never been denigrated by the government.

It said the government continues to use Norway’s services as facilitator, though Oslo decided to replace Mr. Solheim with Jon Hanssen Bauer as the lead figure in the process. Meanwhile, the military has claimed at least 36 LTTE cadre and seven soldiers were killed in the north. The Defence Ministry said 18 LTTE cadre were injured along the Kilinochchi battlefront.

In a report posted on its website, the LTTE said: “The total number of Kilinochchi people who were displaced in the month of September is 26,000 according to Kilinochchi District Secretariat. These people have not received any relief of any kind to date.” There was no response from the government.

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