ID :
62078
Sun, 05/24/2009 - 05:57
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/62078
The shortlink copeid
UN chief visits Manik Farm Tamil camp
Colombo, May 24 (PTI) UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon
Saturday asked Sri Lankan government to immediately initiate
steps for a " political process of dialogue,accomodation and
reconciliation" with its Tamil minority as he visited refugee
camps to see first hand the plight of 300,000 displaced
people.
"Families must be reunited and people must be able to
begin rebuilding their lives" Ban said after a 90 min visit to
the sprawling Manik farm camp near Vavuniya,160km from here,
which Tamil activists and groups have likened to a
"concentration camp".
For the first time journalist accompanying UN
secretary General were allowed to go to these camps as well as
flown over the areas in Mullaittivu war-zone,where the Tamil
tigers made their last stand.
Appealing to a triumphant government to "heal the
wounds" left by three decades of ethnic conflict, Ban asked
the authorities to expedite the screening and processing of
refugees and settle them back in their homes.
Asking for an "unfettered access" for UN and other
international aid agencies,Ban said his organisation was ready
to help in any way it can,"under proper conditions,full
transparency and full respect for human rights", which are
essential.
The UN Secretary General who is the first
international figure to visit the Manik farm camp, after
Colombo declared total victory over the rebels, said the
displaced persons were "badly in need of" humanitarian
assistance.
Ban went round the camps where people are crammed in
hundreds of tents in rows with hardly any space to move around
with soldiers stationed all round the camp.
Some of the camp residents who have hardly any means
to maintain privacy still held welcome signs for the UN chief.
After the visit, Ban said UN would seek the
reunification of families broken by the war and reintegrate
the society. "I want to help reconcile Sri Lanka and its
people."
"Now that the long decades of conflict are over, it is
time for Sri Lankans to heal the wounds and unite without
regards to ethnic and religious identity," the Secretary
General said.
From the relief camps and the battle zone, the UN
Secretary General flew to Kandy to meet President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, where he is expected to press for full and fair
integration of the islands Tamil minority in a process of
"national reconciliation" a demand already made by India. PTI
Saturday asked Sri Lankan government to immediately initiate
steps for a " political process of dialogue,accomodation and
reconciliation" with its Tamil minority as he visited refugee
camps to see first hand the plight of 300,000 displaced
people.
"Families must be reunited and people must be able to
begin rebuilding their lives" Ban said after a 90 min visit to
the sprawling Manik farm camp near Vavuniya,160km from here,
which Tamil activists and groups have likened to a
"concentration camp".
For the first time journalist accompanying UN
secretary General were allowed to go to these camps as well as
flown over the areas in Mullaittivu war-zone,where the Tamil
tigers made their last stand.
Appealing to a triumphant government to "heal the
wounds" left by three decades of ethnic conflict, Ban asked
the authorities to expedite the screening and processing of
refugees and settle them back in their homes.
Asking for an "unfettered access" for UN and other
international aid agencies,Ban said his organisation was ready
to help in any way it can,"under proper conditions,full
transparency and full respect for human rights", which are
essential.
The UN Secretary General who is the first
international figure to visit the Manik farm camp, after
Colombo declared total victory over the rebels, said the
displaced persons were "badly in need of" humanitarian
assistance.
Ban went round the camps where people are crammed in
hundreds of tents in rows with hardly any space to move around
with soldiers stationed all round the camp.
Some of the camp residents who have hardly any means
to maintain privacy still held welcome signs for the UN chief.
After the visit, Ban said UN would seek the
reunification of families broken by the war and reintegrate
the society. "I want to help reconcile Sri Lanka and its
people."
"Now that the long decades of conflict are over, it is
time for Sri Lankans to heal the wounds and unite without
regards to ethnic and religious identity," the Secretary
General said.
From the relief camps and the battle zone, the UN
Secretary General flew to Kandy to meet President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, where he is expected to press for full and fair
integration of the islands Tamil minority in a process of
"national reconciliation" a demand already made by India. PTI
