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Report on refugees in Tamil Nadu presented

COLOMBO: The interim report of the Parliamentary Special Committee to grant citizenship and other facilities for Sri Lankans in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu has been presented to Parliament even as Foreign Minister, Rohitha Bogollagama on Thursday talked about the need for re-orientating relations between Sri Lanka and some members of the international community.

The Parliamentary Committee is chaired by Parliamentarian Ramalingam Chandrasekeran of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and comprised representatives of all political parties.

It was vested with the task of looking into procedures for grant of Sri Lankan citizenship to over 27,000 civilians of Indian origin and those who had taken sheltered in refugee camps for Sri Lankans.

The Interim Report pointed out that permanent houses, other essential documents including the national identity, vocational training to skilled young men and women, the recognition of educational qualifications acquired in India and the issue of passports and certificates related to citizenship should be taken into account, said Mr. Chandrasekeran said at a news conference.

He stressed on the need for re-orientation of relations between the island nation and some members of the international community in the post-Prabakaran era at a meeting here with Miklavz Borstnik, Charge d’Affaires of Slovenia.Mr. Bogollagama said the relations need to be re-oriented, considering the country needing “wider space to deliver on the challenges” presented by the post conflict phase. He hoped that there would be wider acknowledgement by the international community of the Sri Lankan agenda being pursued both in defeating terrorism and the post conflict phase.

In another development, a Workshop on the Implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1540 dealing with Non-State Actors and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) organised by Sri Lanka and the U.S. in cooperation with the U.N. Office for Disarmament Affairs concluded here on Thursday.

Participants from the governments of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and representatives of U.N. agencies, took part in the deliberations.

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