02/4/2012 By: Carol Sanders
.Sri Lankan refugees yearn for new home in Winnipeg
The Johendran family at a recent meeting with officials in Malaysia. They fled Sri Lanka two years ago and are stuck in limbo.
Winnipeg's globe-trotting human rights lawyer David Matas is trying to help thousands of Sri Lankan refugees stuck in limbo in Indonesia and Malaysia, including a dozen families hoping to come to Winnipeg.
"If you had to start somewhere, I'd say get the kids out of jail and let them go to school," said Matas, who just returned from the southeast Asian countries where close to 5,000 Tamil refugees are stuck.
"It's simple, obvious and not very expensive. It's not a revolutionary idea," said Matas, who went with fellow Winnipegger Sam Ratna, a member of the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam. They're trying to find a safe, permanent home for 200,000 displaced people. The Tamils can't go back to Sri Lanka and they're not welcome to stay where they are now, Matas said in a 42- page report.
