Employees accuse Civil Security Dept in Vanni of large-scale corruption

<p>Tamil employees of the Civil Security Department (CSD) in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu have accused department officials of corruption to the scale of 500 million Rupees (2.7million USD).</p> <p>An employee at the CSD made the accusations at a press conference in Kilinochchi, claiming they had made complaints to several relevant authorities to no avail and were no going public with their complaints.</p> <p>The employee also said that at CSD farms, employees were vulnerable to exploitation, as the majority were former LTTE cadres or disabled war victims.</p> <p>Farm employees were made to regularly pay an ‘income tax’ of 3000 rupees, for which they received no receipts, the employee claimed.</p> <p>The employee said CSD employees’ precarious positions as former cadres meant they were powerless to fight the corruption and exploitation within the department.</p> <p>The CSD's operations in the Tamil homeland&nbsp;and its aggressive targeting of vulnerable groups for recruitment, particularly former LTTE cadres and war-affected women, has been criticised by Tamil groups. The department is viewed as a key player in attempts to normalise and embed militarisation in the Vanni while subjugating the Tamil population.</p>