COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
items and the request to purchase them would be assessed by the Ministry of Health. If
the costs could not be met by the government, an individual had the option to contribute
towards them.‖
24. HUMANITARIAN ISSUES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS)
INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS)
Return to contents
24.01 The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) Country Profile of Sri Lanka 470 (last
reviewed on 9 December 2011), observed that: ―An estimated 300,000 civilians were
displaced as a result of the fighting and placed in camps in northern Sri Lanka.
International attention focused on improving conditions for them and for other longerterm
displaced civilians, and supporting the Government to return Internally Displaced
People (IDPs) to their areas of origin. By November 2011, the number remaining in
government camps had fallen to approximately 7,000, but many more had been unable
to return to their former areas of residence.‖
24.02 The US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010) 471 ,
released on 8 April 2011 noted that:
―The country had a significant population of IDPs. Almost all IDPs were ethnically Tamil,
although approximately 80,000 of the total displaced population were Tamil-speaking
Muslims who were displaced from Jaffna by the LTTE in 1990. Although approximately
108,000 more recent IDPs remained in government-run camps at the beginning of the
year [2010], most of these had returned to their home districts by year's end, with
approximately 20,200 still in camps at that time.
―Many IDPs who were able to return to their home districts were nevertheless unable to
move back onto their own property due to uncleared land mines, restrictions that have
designated their home areas as HSZs [High Security Zones], and other war-related
destruction. Living conditions for these persons were often difficult.‖
24.03 The USSD 2010 report 472 continued:
―In addition to this group of newer IDPs, there were an estimated 200,000 displaced
Tamils, most of whom were displaced prior to the last major offensive by the military in
2008 and were living with either relatives or friends. It was unclear at year's end how or
when they might return to their places of origin, or whether some would prefer to settle
permanently at their current location after being displaced for many years. Some returns
of pre-2008 IDPs occurred throughout the year.
470 Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), Country profile of Sri Lanka, last reviewed 9 December
2011, http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/asiaoceania/sri-lanka;jsessionid=4AC8FCEAFE70794624EC38E125BD0AE9.tomcat2date
date accessed 11
January 2012 (The Internal Conflict)
471 US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 2d
472 US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report: Sri Lanka (USSD 2010), released on 8 April 2011,
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/sca/154486.htm , date accessed 11 May 2011, Section 2d
182 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.