Canadian-Tamils cite camp horrors

The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) is accusing the Sri Lanka government of doing little to ease the pain and suffering of over 300,000 displaced people shoved into military camps after the end of the island nation’s Tamil Tiger insurgency.

Sri Lanka has committed to resettling the “bulk” of the so-called internally displaced persons (IDPs) within 180 days.

”Many internally displaced persons remain effectively as prisoners – cut off from the outside world

and, in some cases, subjected to torture, summary execution and starvation,” said CTC lawyer Harini Sivalingam.

“About 1,400 people are believed to be dying every week, and some girls and women have become pregnant due to rape,” while releasing the CTC’s monthly situation reports tracking Sri Lanka’s

progress in freeing the war refugees.

The “Situation Report for July 2009” argues the likelihood of Sri Lanka meeting its 180 day commitment to resettle everyone in the military camps is “dim” and “unlikely”.

The government also defended its decision to continue to hold the refugees by saying their homelands need to be cleared of mines laid by both the rebels and government security forces during a 26-year conflict that killed more than 100,000 people.