According to the latest Joint Humanitarian Update on 19 November, 136,242 people remained in the camps in the northeast, while 112,209 have been returned to their places of origin and 27,663 have been released to host families or into the care of elders. There appears to be close to 11,000 people suspected to be either Tamil liberation fighters or their sympathisers held in so called rehabilitation centres under conditions that breach local and international law. 

AFTA condemns the request by the Sri Lankan government for the released Tamils to report to police stations and questions its sincerity in declaring that the IDPs are now free to go. Further the decision taken in haste to ‘free’ these hapless people with no resettlement assistance rendered raises a suspicion that this is yet another attempt to hood wink the international community and to engineer electoral gains at the forthcoming Presidential poll.

AFTA joins the Amnesty International in calling on the Sri Lankan government to permanently release all the civilians who have been illegally detained in camps.  A statement from Amnesty International on this matter can be accessed at: 
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU2009112414201&lang=e

AFTA points out the obligations of the government of Sri Lanka to adequately compensate the affected Tamil civilians for the loss of their beloved ones and their properties caused by its military operations. AFTA also calls for unimpeded access to displaced people by local and international humanitarian agencies. For those attempting to resettle, such organizations should be permitted to monitor their safety and wellbeing

and ensure their needs are being met, including protection against further human rights violations.  A statement made in this regard by the US based Human Rights Watch can be accessed at:
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/11/24/sri-lanka-free-all-unlawfully-detained

AFTA urges the Australian and New Zealand governments to persuade the Sri Lankan authorities to allow displaced people to make informed and voluntary decisions about return and resettlement and continue to help these people financially and to restore their dignity by building their capacity to stand on their own feet.

AFTA would like to urge the independent media to make use of this window of opportunity to visit these areas to inform the international community of the true situation in the besieged Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka.

Media Enquiries:

Sydney: Dr. Victor Rajakulendran 0402 484 209
Melbourne: Mr. Siva Sivakumar 0404 894 591
Queensland: Prof. Selva Selvanathan 0402 960 439
Auckland: Dr. Siva Vasanthan 021 023 51 007

Media Release                                         04.12.2009