Another 2500 IDPs resettled

Friday, 16 October 2009
2500 persons housed in Welfare Villages in Vavuniya have left for resettlement in their native lands in Jaffna. The “Uthuru Wasanthaya” Task Force operating on the instructions of the President has expedited the resettlement process.
The programme is being mooted through the Government Agents of Jaffna and Vavuniya and under the supervision of Chief of the Task Force and Senior Presidential Advisor and Parliamentarian Basil Rajapaksa, G.A. Jaffna K. Ganesh said the civilians will be transported daily from the Welfare Villages to Jaffna for resettlement from yesterday. In addition, 150 persons of 61 families from the Vavuniya District and 300 persons of 87 families from the Mannar District were also resettled yesterday.

Spurt in refugees to Tamil Nadu

RAMANATHAPURAM: Influx of Sri Lankan refugees to Tamil Nadu saw a sudden increase in the last few weeks following escalation in the war between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE.
More than 100 refugees arrived during the last 20 days।
On Tuesday, a group of 27 refugees landed on the Kambipadu shore near Dhanushkodi in a fibreglass boat. This is the first time in recent months that a Sri Lankan boat carrying refugees chose to land during the day.
“A large number of displaced Tamil people are desperate to come to India as refugees due to the pitched battle. However, they are finding difficult to arrange boats due to heightened vigilance by the Sri Lankan Navy and others.
Abduction of innocent civilians by ‘unknown white vans’ has become a big menace for Tamils,” said Jayaseelan (29) of Murunkan, who landed along with his wife and nine-month-old baby.
A Defence officer said an alert had been sounded along the coast following the “recent developments.” A close watch was being maintained on boats coming across the border.
Instructions had been given to field-level personnel to check the occupants of these boats.
Fishermen had been cautioned against venturing into the sea without valid documents.
Police officers keeping any eye on Sri Lankan refugees said the focus was on verifying the antecedents of refugees between the age group of 20 to 35 years.
On arrival, they would be kept in quarantine camps for 15 days to verify whether they were genuine refugees or cadres of the banned LTTE. (Hindu)

90 Lankans sought refuge in Japan last year

The number of foreign nationals who applied for refugee status in Japan hit an all-time high of 1,599 in 2008, about double that of 2007, the Justice Ministry said Friday.
The ministry attributed the surge, which hit the highest level since Japan’s refugee recognition system began in 1982, to increased applications from Myanmar following pro-democracy demonstrations there in 2007.
In 2008, Japan recognized 57 people as refugees, up 16 from the previous year, the ministry said, adding that all but three were from Myanmar.
People from Myanmar were the largest group of refugee-status seekers, accounting for 979 of the total, followed by those from Turkey at 156 and those from Sri Lanka at 90.
Of those who were not recognized as refugees, a record 360 obtained special permits to stay in Japan on humanitarian grounds, the ministry said. (Japan Today)

Seven Sri Lankan refugees arrested

Seven Sri Lankan Tamils registered as refugees at a camp in Rameswaram, were arrested when they attempted to return to Sri Lanka illegally from Thangachimadam coastal village. Of the 13 refugees who were planning to return to Sri Lanka, the local police nabbed seven refugees while six others escaped on seeing the police. (PTI)

Illegal Sri Lankan migrants deported

Jan 19, 2009 (LBO) - Britain has started deporting illegal Sri Lankan migrants with the first batch sent back by charter flight on January 15 at the island international airport, the British High Commission said.
It said in a statement that the UK and Sri Lankan governments have struck a deal to send back illegal migrants on a regular basis on charter flights. "The British Government and the Government of Sri Lanka have an ongoing agreement to facilitate the return of Sri Lankan nationals who have remained unlawfully in the UK," it said. The first charter flight of Sri Lankan returnees, who were deported last week marks the start of what is hoped will be an ongoing programme of repatriation, it said.
The High Commission said the Sri Lankan government "was instrumental" in ensuring the flight took place. The agreement also "supports the UK Border Agency policy to detect, detain and remove those who have unlawfully entered the UK or pose a threat." The British high commission statement did not say who the returnees were. Hundreds of Sri Lankans, especially minority Tamils, are known to have entered Britain illegally and are living and working there. It said in a statement that the UK and Sri Lankan governments have struck a deal to send back illegal migrants on a regular programme of charter flights