REFUGEE

DMK Rajya Sabha member Kanimozhi on Monday said there was ‘some improvement’ in the condition of internally displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka after delegation comprising MPs of DMK, Congress and VCK visited the island nation last month.

After the visit of the Indian MPs’ delegation in Sri Lanka there was ‘some improvement’ in the situation, Ms. Kanimozhi told reporters here.

“Over 50,000 IDPs had returned to their native places,” she said but added that her party wanted all internally displaced persons, now accommodated in camps in Sri Lanka, to return to their respective places at the earliest.

“This is not enough. DMK wanted all of them to be sent to their native places, besides a political solution, under which they can live honourably,” she said.

Keywords: Kanimozhi, Sri Lankan Tamils, DMK MPs, Congress, VCK, MPs’ delegation

Internally displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka lack even basic amenities like water and toilets in camps housing them, an MPs delegation from Tamil Nadu has claimed after visiting the island nation.

"They (Lankan Tamils) complained of lack of food, with even children not having milk. While many said they didn't have clothes to change, others said there was not enough water for bathing and toilet purposes," the 10-member team said in its report submitted to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

The "overwhelming demand" from the Tamils was to send them back to their places, the report by the delegation, comprising MPs from the ruling DMK and its allies, the Congress and the Viduthalai Chiraithugal Katchi, said.

Noting that miseries of Tamils would be compounded if they were not vacated from camps before onset of monsoon, it said "even if proper infrastructure is provided, it is not advisable to hold lakhs of people in such camps for a long period.After receiving the delegation and its report at the airport itself yesterday, Karunanidhi had said that Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse had assured the team that 58,000 of the 2.53 lakh displaced Tamils would be sent home in the next fortnight and the rest in a phased manner.

The resettlement process would begin today, he had said.

The team, headed by senior DMK leader and MP TR Baalu and comprising Karunanidhi's daughter Kanmozhi, besides pro-Ealam VCK founder Thol Tirumavalavan and some Congress MPs, visited the camps to get a first hand account of the displaced Tamils.

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