Updated figures of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka as of 31 December 2007 of those IDP movements after 7 April 2006, has been established to be 187,850 persons. Of this number, 31,843 still remain in welfare centres or temporary accommodation centres, while 156,007 are said to live with friends and relatives. However, numbers given for Killinochchi, Mullativu and the Southern part of Jaffna cannot be verified.
This data is contained in a compilation published on 17 January 2008 by the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services, the Ministry of Nation Building and Development and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The table below lists the figures on a District wise basis:
District | IDPs in Welfare Centres and Temporary Accommodation Centres | IDPs with Friends and Relatives | Total |
Jaffna | 857 | 30,180 | 31,037 |
Kilinochchi | 3,737 | 44,810 | 48,547 |
Mullativu | 923 | 31,173 | 32,096 |
Mannar | 9,660 | 13,884 | 23,544 |
Vavuniya | 281 | 10,362 | 10,643 |
Trincomalee | 3,753 | 2,218 | 5,971 |
Batticaloa | 10,041 | 16,471 | 26,512 |
Ampara | 87 | 5,608 | 5,695 |
Puttalam | 2,371 | 551 | 2,922 |
Anuradhapura | - | 486 | 486 |
Polonnaruwa | 133 | 47 | 180 |
Gampaha | - | 213 | 213 |
Kegalle | - | 4 | 4 |
Grand Total | 31,843 | 156,007 | 187,850 |
The government is committed to settling back all IDPs in their original homes. In the Eastern Province alone, over 108,000 IDPs have already returned to their homes since March 2007, and only 38,178 persons are living in welfare centres or temporary accommodation or with friends and relatives. Most of them have been held back due to the need for the clearance of landmines.
The settlement of IDPs back in their homes has been a voluntary process and it has been undertaken according to international standards. This has been acknowledged by the international community including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme(WFP).
- Asian Tribune -
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