London, Oct 13 (Inditop.com) Indian MPs currently on a visit to Sri Lanka should raise concerns about the “safety and dignity” of the hundreds of thousands of Tamils who have been displaced by civil war, Amnesty International said.
The refugees, who have been sheltered in 21 government-run closed camps in the north and east of the island nation, have not been allowed to leave the camps and seek alternative accommodation, the human rights group said.
“In the course of your interactions with Sri Lankan authorities, Amnesty International urges you to emphasise the need to respect the rights of all displaced people to liberty and freedom of movement; freedom of arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention,” Amnesty said in a letter to the MPs.
The 10 Indian MPs from ruling parties in Tamil Nadu, led by T.R. Baalu, are in Sri Lanka on a four-day visit.
Amnesty said although Sri Lanka pledged to resettle the majority of the refugees within 180 days after the war ended in May, “it is clear now that true ‘resettlement’ will take much longer than the Sri Lankan government anticipated”.
“Displaced people have not been allowed to seek alternative accommodations or start the process of rebuilding their lives. The Sri Lankan government continues to confine the displaced to closed camps, in crowded, uncomfortable and sometimes hazardous conditions.
“Camp residents now face a humanitarian disaster as monsoon rains threaten to flood camps,” Amnesty said.
