LTTE-LED SEPARATIST WAR MADE 250,000 TAMILS HOMELESS

By P.Vijian

VAVUNIYA, May 27 (Bernama) -- The separatist war fought in northern Sri
Lanka for the past three decades had caused colossal damage to the bulk of the
minority Tamil population, with thousands facing a bleak future after being
uprooted from their homes.

An estimated 250,000 people, many already mired in deep poverty due to the
civil war, are now homeless after losing their last piece of belonging as they
escaped the war zone recently.

Government officials estimate that over 305 children were orphaned by the
bloody war so far, while 3,000 young pregnant women would soon deliver their
babies in the camps.

"There is a lot of congestion (in the camps) as there was a big influx a few
days ago. We are doing our best to shelter them and resettle them before next
year. But there are problems like land mines (explosives) and we have to de-mine
these places first," P.C. M Charles, Vavuniya district secretary told reporters.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a lethal rebel group led by
Velupillai Prabhakaran, fought the government to create a separate homeland for
the marginalised Tamils in the island's north, but was crushed last Tuesday,
with the death of the once-invincible leader.


A group of foreign journalists, under the guidance of the Sri Lanka
military, visited the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, spanning over
560ha in Vavuniya district, located about 230km from the capital Colombo, where
many war victims are currently housed.

These are the lucky thousands of escapees who took their chances and braved
tough terrains -- sealed with land mines by LTTE to halt charging troops --
crossed lagoons and survived nights in thick jungle without food in Mullaithivu
area, LTTE's military base which was eventually captured last week.

"We don't care whether he (Prabhakaran) is dead or alive, I don't want to
recall about this war anymore. My father was killed by (bomb) shell and I saw
bodies split in the bombings.

"We lost everything we owned in this fighting. Now, there is no man in the
family to care for us, I have two sisters and a mother to take care of," said a
distraught Thanamlectchumy, 20, who only owns some clothing stored in plastic
bags and lives in the camp.

She was one of the many young daring females who escaped conscription into
LTTE's military wing and fled on foot with her family from the war zone and
safely reached the IDP camps, set up by the government and the United Nations
(UN).


Hundreds of security forces are deployed around the camps to prevent any
remnants of LTTE combatants from infiltrating these zones. So far, no untoward
incident had been reported.

About 6,000 LTTE cadres have surrendered to the authorities and are being
rehabilitated by the government.

While some Western countries debate over human rights violations on the
island and pressure the UN to press charges against Sri Lanka for war crimes,
President Mahinda Rajapaksa's government is grappling with how to feed and
resettle these IDPs, especially with the onset of the monsoon season.

Rajapaksa, who succeed on eliminating terrorism from his soil, now needs to
preserve the newly won peace, so as not to spoil the mood in Colombo, where the
nation is celebrating the long-waited victory, and fulfil his promises to the
suffering minority Tamils in the far north.

-- BERNAMA