Sri Lanka briefs UN delegation on war displaced
COL 2012-09-15
OMBO, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka briefed a visiting team from the UN human rights office on the resettlement of thousands of war-displaced people, the government said on Saturday.

Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa, who is also a senior advisor to the president, told the delegation that the human rights of the displaced and resettled people in the north and east of the country will be protected, the minister's office said in a statement.

"Now the people in these two provinces are enjoying very peaceful life after the three decades of uncertainty and fear about their life. There are no road blocks or check points, no mines, no fear of sudden explosion, no sound of gun fighting. The government has safeguarded the human rights of these people by providing facilities to start a new life in their original places, developing infrastructure and helping them to develop their livelihood," the minister told the UN human rights team.

The delegation headed by Hanny Megally, the Chief of the Asia Pacific, Middle East and North African Branch of the UN office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, includes Oscar Solers, the human rights officer at the UN human rights office.

The delegation is in Sri Lanka after a resolution was adopted at the UN Human Rights Council in March calling on the Sri Lankan government to implement a set of recommendation of a local war commission and also in the process obtain technical advice from the UN human rights office headed by the UN human rights High Commissioner Navi Pillay.

Sri Lanka initially refused to accept technical advice but later agreed to allow the human rights technical team to visit the country.

Rajapaksa told the delegation that the government is facing some issues in the resettlement process including getting back war displaced people who are in camps in India.

Thousands of Tamils fled to India during the 30 year war and a few had returned to Sri Lanka after the war ended with the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels three years ago.