COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

7 MARCH 2012 SRI LANKA
―The team explained that work with the individual surrenderee began in the camps,
where socio-economic profiling took place. Surrenderees were interviewed in batches,
and the notes were recorded in hard copy and electronically. Surrenderees were then
transferred to locations near to where they were going to be released and went through
another circuit of meetings with IOM staff. Part of the conditions of their release was the
requirement to report to the nearest IOM office. IOM run an outreach programme of
verifications to confirm that the information given to them by the surrenderees is correct.
On release IOM undertake another interview with them, which they often find more
revealing as they do not have the same reluctance to divulge things as they do in the
camps. An additional requirement of the surrenderees release is that they are taken
every week by bus to sign-in at military camps and attend camp meetings.
4.21 The same source 90 expanded on the rehabilitation process:
―There are four components to the reintegration programme; education, training, on-thejob
training and job placement. Surrenderees suggest what they want to do and where
they would like to go and a reintegration plan is drawn up. Originally there was a limit on
the cost of reintegration of between Rs 80 – 90,000 (£450 – 505), but this has now been
limited to Rs 75,000 (£421). There were 3,000 surrenderees in Kilinochchi and
Mullaitivu with outstanding reintegration programmes, some of whom had been with the
LTTE for between 20-25 years, and some with excellent skills and qualifications. So far
300 surrenderees had gone through the programme in Kilinochchi. IOM had been told
not to refer any of the surrenderees to large enterprises for employment as it was often
difficult to get them accepted by the employer. It was felt easier to set them up with their
own enterprises.
―We asked the team what they considered the biggest challenges faced by the
surrenderees following their release:
―• Acceptance in the community, as during the war they may have taken sons and
daughters away to fight for the LTTE
• Harassment by CID and/or the military e.g. surveillance, threats, potential
abduction/kidnapping etc. One surrenderee had disappeared in Kilinochchi 7
months ago.
• Community flashbacks
• Social stigma/guilty feelings. Many are heads of household and the families
suffer from the same stigma.
• Once the release package was received, they may not receive further support
• Many married during the war and were immediately separated. Many are now
considered divorced and many women are described as widows, yet there is no
official registration of the marriages and they have no documentation to
produce.
• Many still have no identification documents
• All suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and trauma
―To mitigate some of these challenges IOM have:
―• An awareness programme for the police and the military
90 British High Commission Colombo, letter to the UKBA COI Service, dated 9 November 2011
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.
51