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“Rescind the order to the military to take over relief distribution”

“Please rescind the order given to the military to take over relief operations in the welfare centres” requests Mr. R. Sampanthan, TNA legislator from the Trincomalee district in a letter to the President in connection with the order given by the President to the military to take over relief management in the welfare centres for the displaced population.

Excerpts:

We understand that you have ordered the military to take over the task of managing the welfare centres for the displaced. It is clear that this order is relevant to all the welfare centres in areas other than those administered by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Over 95% of the displaced in welfare centres outside LTTE administered territory, are Tamil speaking people and majority of them are Tamils. We are informed that military personnel entered into welfare centres in Trincomalee to undertake this new assignment, fully armed. The inmates of the welfare centres are resisting this action and it is reported that there is tension prevailing on account of this.

These centres are being managed efficiently by the Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO),INGO’s, District level government officials and the LTTE. The District Task Force for Trincomalee, in its last meeting nominated separate groups to manage each of the welfare centres. It is appropriate to mention here that the decision of the Task Force is that, centres in which Tamil speaking people are housed, should be managed by civilian groups that are sympathetic to them.

With regret, I wish to point out that the composition of the Sri Lankan armed forces is 100% Sinhala and hundreds of thousands of Tamil people have been affected by the atrocities of the military. We haven’t yet reached a conciliatory position whence the Tamil people can forget all these.

Handing over the responsibility of maintaining humanitarian relief work to the military would destabilise all that have been structured already on an inclusive basis at the district level and it is therefore requested to rescind this order relative to the NorthEast.”

07 January 2005

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