The leader of the Tamil National Alliance, R. Sampanthan, has called for a removal of military camps in the Northeast of the island.
Speaking to Tamil media, Sampanthan said his party would continue to campaign for a reduction in military presence.
"The current ratio of security personnel in the north of the country is one soldier to every eight civilians. This is too much and we have highlighted the need to reduce the military presence to restore normalcy to this region," he said.
Sri Lanka’s Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission also recommended that army camps be removed; however President Rajapakse has dismissed those calls, saying that the army presence was necessary as the ‘terrorist’ threat still existed abroad.