Resettling of the displaced people now living in welfare camps would be delayed till all LTTE cadres among them are apprehended and separated from them, Human Rights and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told Parliament yesterday (22).

"The security forces have detected LTTE cadres who entered the welfare camps and live among the displaced people. They believe some more are there and with the information obtained from those under interrogation further apprehensions have to be made. There is no way of commencing resettlement until this process is over," he said during his reply in the adjournment debate on the plight of Internally Displaced Persons, moved by JVP Parliamentary Group Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

MP Dissanayake moving the motion said that the Tamils living in these camps are also fellow brethren and they should be set free immediately. They are also citizens of this country and have the same rights. Detaining them any further under inhumane conditions should be ended.

Politicians of both North and South must be held responsible for the current plight of the people being confined within barbed wire fenced camps called welfare villages, he said. Bandaranaike and Chelvanayakam put their signatures to a so-called solution that did not sort out the problems of Tamil people but helped them to stay in power. Standardisation by the Government in the South deprived many Tamil children of their future. Then in the 1977 development council election, our politicians set the Jaffna Library on fire. These made people like Kasi Anandan say that he wanted to wear a rose taken from a tree watered by Sinhalese blood. If our people think that these innocent Tamils must pay for the crimes of the LTTE, we are mistaken. The IDPs are not to be made to pay for the loss of lives and property we had. Over 5,000 security personnel died and over 25,000 were injured during the battle from Mavil Aru to the Nanthi Kadal lagoon. But the people numbering around 300,000 in camps are not responsible for that.

TNA Parliamentary Group Leader R. Sampanthan: There are various horrible accounts we hear of these people languishing in the displaced camps in the North. Detaining people in that manner is illegal and against the Constitution. They must be allowed to go where they were before coming to these camps. There are landmine free areas and de-miners will clear the rest very soon. NGOs should be allowed to visit these camps because the people inside the camps would be benefited. Army checkpoints and high security zones must be removed as the war is over ensuring the free movement of people.

Power Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage: It is normally believed that the JVP comprises patriots but now we cannot be sure whether they are true patriots or traitors. They would not have raised such wild allegations and made up stories of horrible situations in camps if they were true patriots. Even international organisations have commended the situation in the camps. There are many villages and towns in the South without pipe borne water but all these camps have all the necessary facilities.

UNP MP Dr Jayalath Jayawardena: We have not been allowed inside these camps and had to go before the Supreme Court seeking permission to serve these innocent people. Children, parents and family members have been put in different camps they should be allowed to meet. If the Government does not like to allow The International Red Cross to operate there, then at least the Sri Lanka Red Cross must be allowed.