“there are still some people who are unable to return to their homes and a solution urgently needs to be found”.

“While these last residents have not been able to return to their former land the Government is providing them with land in another area. The Government is looking for solutions but it is important that the displaced people should be able to make an informed and voluntary decision about their future including being part of the planning and management of their resettlement.”

“But there are still many people living with friends and relatives particularly in Jaffna and Vavuniya, or living in welfare centres. Some of these people have been displaced for years and they also need a lasting solution.”

“Allowing people to settle anywhere in the country and resolving legal ownership of land for those who have resettled  away from their original homes is a key part of the reconciliation process.”  

Sri Lankan Minister Wimal Weerawansa has again attacked Google, this time blaming it for the current upheaval and protests against the anti-Islam movie.

Weerawansa said Google was responsible for the circulation of the video and that US authorities use the search engine to ‘suit their whims and fancies’, according to the Daily Mirror.

He urged the authorities to block the movie from being viewed by Sri Lankans.

Weerawansa had called for a boycott of US products, such as Google, Coca Cola, KFC and McDonald’s, earlier this year, and pledged that he would stop using his Gmail account.

A boycott, according to Weerawansa, would show the Americans “the strength of our nation” and said that “they will feel the effects of our actions.”

His rage stemmed from the “ill-treatment” he alleged the US to be “throwing” at Sri Lanka.

“Rajapaksa’s achievement in ending the Island’’s 30-year separatist war has no parallels in the chronicle.”

Tamils from Keppapulavu who were moved out of the Cheddikulam IDP camp by the military this weekend, have appealed to the international community to intervene and allow them to go their original homes, reported TamilNet.

Although the government has proclaimed that there are now no IDPs, many of those who were supposedly 'resettled' have not been allowed to return to their homes, but have instead been moved on to effectively another camp.

See here for the petition. Extracts reproduced below:

"The military establishment and governmental authorities have been as of recent times insisting that we 'resettle' elsewhere. We have steadfastedly refused to resettle anywhere but in our native villages. Owing to our determined stance to return to our native village, government authorities have been using various covert and overt means of undue influence and pressure on us to take up on the offer of alternative lands. One such means of pressure recently exerted on us is the threat that the school operating within Menik Farm Camp will be closed down soon. We fear that in the near future rations provided to us might also be cut off."

"We believe that the Government of Sri Lanka does not have the willingness to resettle us in our native village. We understand that a huge military base has been built in our village and that the GOSL has no intention of resettling us in Keppapilavu. Hence we seek the urgent intervention of the international community to help us resettle in our native villages at the earliest opportunity."

 

The Chief of Staff of the Brazilian Army has met with Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse in Colombo on Monday.

General Joaquim Silva E Luna led a delegation of high ranking military officials from the Brazilian military.

According to defence.lk the General and the Defence Secretary discussed ‘matters of bilateral relevance and mutual interests’.

“Not only in Sri Lanka, if war crimes and human rights violations are reported in any part of the world, India will not remain a mute spectator and will strongly oppose it”.

The US embassy in Colombo has announced it will be closed from 9:30am on Monday due to anticipated protests against the anti-Islam movie that has sparked protests worldwide and led to the deaths of US embassy officials in Libya.

The embassy urged US citizens to avoid travelling near the embassy on Monday and to be cautious around protestors.

"While no protest-related violence has been directed at foreigners, we remind U.S. citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn violent. U.S. citizens should avoid large crowds and monitor media coverage of local events. If you encounter demonstrations, or large crowds, you should remain calm and depart the area quickly and avoid confrontation," the High Commission said in a notification.

The embassy was already forced to close early on Friday, after protests outside its premises.

In a statement, released in English, Sinhala and Tamil, the embassy reiterated the US government’s rejection of said video and stressed it had nothing to do with the video.

The Australian government announced that the family reunion concessions for asylum seekers arriving by boat, will be removed.

The minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris said in a statement:

“These changes will remove the incentive for people to travel to Australia by boat with the intention of bringing out their families on humanitarian visas,”

“We don’t want people risking their lives at sea on dangerous boat journeys and together with the implementation of all the other panel recommendations this measure provides clear  evidence of the Government’s determination to break the people smugglers’ business model.”

“Until now, the offshore spouse, dependent children and, in some cases, parents of refugees in Australia could be granted an SHP visa solely on the basis of that relationship, regardless of whether they were in humanitarian need themselves,”

“This created a situation where, for example, the head of a family would arrive in Australia alone, apply for asylum and then seek to bring out several members of his family as humanitarian migrants.

“Decisions on the applications made by family of adult boat arrivals who arrived prior to 13."

The Sri Lankan military - in charge of resettlement - announced that there would be no further IDPs as all Tamils had been 'resettled', on Sunday. 

The Security Forces Commander Boniface Perera said, 

"A total of 1,186 people from 361 families -the last of a group of more than 300,000 displaced during the war in the north - will leave the Vavuniya Manik Farm to their original places of residence in the Mullaitivu district today,”

“There will be no more IDPs in the country from today.”

“The resettlement in the northern region was delayed because of de-mining in these areas. We have to make sure that there are no remnants of any land mines in these areas, because civilian safety is important for the government,”

“All though the government has met their needs, the Army will continue to assist the returnees to build their houses or repair them and also to improve their livelihood,”

According to Major General Perara, Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa directed the military in Vanni and Mullaitivu to quicken the pace of resettlement.

“I think the situation has actually worsened for the Tamil people. And when no-one is watching, anything can happen.”

"Our relationship with Sri Lanka is predicated on one thing and one thing alone at the moment and that's turning back boats. We've lost the plot, we've lost our moral compass.

This regime in Sri Lanka is as bad as the regime in South Africa under apartheid, and yet there are people in this country that see it as benign. It is not benign."

India has urged Colombo to discuss and finalise a credible road map for the devolution of power with the TNA, during the Sri Lankan President's visit to the country.

Asserting that such a move would send a 'positive signal' ahead of the UN Human Rights Council in March, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stressed the importance of converting past discussions into firm action.

According reports, Rajapaksa said the issue had to be decided by the Parliamentary Select Committee.

See here and here.

Amidst protests against President’s Mahinda Rajapasa’s visit to Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, said it was expected that Sri Lanka treated Tamils equally to clear doubts in the minds of people in both nations.

During a brief interaction with President Rajapaksa, Chouhan acknowledged the strong relations between India and Sri Lanka, and stressed that “It was expected from the island nation to treat Tamils with equality and that the President should highlight the work being undertaken by his government in this regard”, official sources said.

Fulfilling the Sri Lankan government’s prioritised role of fostering Buddhism, Rajapaksa arrived in Madhya Pradesh to lay the foundation stone for the Sanchi University of Buddhist studies.

The visiting delegation from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was told of continuing discrimination at the hand of Sri Lankan authorities during a meeting with the TNA on Friday.

In a statement the TNA said they discussed disappearances, accountability and resettlement issues with Hanny Megally, the head of the Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa branch of the OHCHR.

The TNA said it also said it raised concerns about colonisation and changes in the demographics of the northeast.

"Amongst the matters discussed were land issues relating to security zones where the displaced people have not been able to resettle, their lands being taken over for military purposes, lands being taken over ostensibly for development purposes and on which, persons of the majority community are being settled, cultural and religious places being denied to the Tamil people," the statement said.