UN: Difficult task of cooperating with MR-Regime, while trying to ensure the needs of the IDPs are catered to! MR painted a rosy picture of IDPs!

IDP’s freedom of movement in certain districts has become an open question..!!!

By Raisa Wickrematunge

Internal documents in The Sunday Leader’s possession indicate that the extent of the IDP’s freedom of movement in certain districts has become an open question.

On December 1, the government granted IDPs freedom of movement from the camps. This basic right is something which the international community has been agitating for, for months.

However an internal situation report issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), covering December 6-11, hints that the much-hyped removal of restrictions was not implemented in all the districts.

“Field reports indicate that freedom of movement is not uniformly implemented across different districts,” the report says cryptically. When asked for clarification of which districts are then subject to restriction, the OCHA office in Colombo said they could not comment, as the document in question was an internal circular.

UN Spokesman Gordon Weiss was unaware of what the sentence in question alluded to. He asked that he be given time to gather information on the report, but subsequent calls went unanswered.

In the precursor to the crucial sentence, the report describes the situation in Vavuniya. IDPs may leave the camps for seven to ten days, but must return and re-register themselves with camp authorities. Buses sponsored by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) have been facilitating this movement from Vavuniya since December 3.

It appears therefore that the fortunate inhabitants of the Vavuniya camps do have freedom of movement. However nothing is mentioned about the other districts. This omission, together with the lack of clarification with that one sentence, is ominous to say the least.

It is a fact that NGOs such as the UN operate on a delicate balance within Sri Lanka. They have the difficult task of cooperating with the government, while trying to ensure the needs of the IDPs are catered to.

So far government representatives have painted a rosy picture of the resettlement process. IDPs are provided with money, agricultural implements, roofing sheets and care packages. The government is aiming to speed up the resettlement process, and is indeed doing so, to its credit. According to the OCHA situation report, 126,271 IDPs remained in temporary camps as of December 6. This means over half the IDPs have already been resettled in a matter of months, a feat of no small proportions. Of this number, 118,150 people were in camps in the Vavuniya District; 2,296 in Mannar, 3,996 in Jaffna, and 1,829 in Trincomalee. Meanwhile a total of 29,035 IDPs have been released to host families and elders’ homes, while 129,196 IDPs have returned to their districts of origin. The huge logistical problem of moving hundreds of thousands of people, not to mention catering for their basic needs, is immediately apparent.

Yet their claim that there is general freedom of movement for these people in all districts appears to be erroneous. If this is indeed true, the question must be asked: Why? Are there security concerns in some districts which warrant the extension of restrictions? Could it perhaps be the insurmountable difficulties of shifting a large mass of people? If so, why has there been no mention of this by the government? It is time for answers.

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