Lankan government acquiring lands in Tamil areas
December 01 2009 – Express Buzz
CHENNAI: Even before resettling the Tamils in their traditional areas, the Sri Lankan government is in the process of acquiring lands in the northern and eastern regions of the country to attract foreign investors.
Speaking on ‘Trade and investment opportunities in Sri Lanka’, Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner Vadivelu Krishnamoorthy said that vast areas of suitable land had been identified for cultivation of food crops and foreign investors with a capacity to introduce high-yielding advanced agricultural techniques are being given priority.
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Sri Lanka war refugees leaving military camps
December 01 2009 – BBC
Thousands of displaced Sri Lankans have begun leaving military-run camps opened up by the government in the north.
The general in charge of the biggest camp told the BBC people were free to leave temporarily – after giving their details so they can be monitored.
The camps house about 130,000 people driven from their homes during the offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this year.
Sri Lanka has drawn criticism for holding people against their will.
There have been severe restrictions on access to the camps – set up for people fleeing the war zone during the government’s final assault against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
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Balavarnam eyewitness ‘fear for life’
November 30 2009 – BBC Sinhala
The eyewitness of an alleged police brutality in Colombo says she feared for her life after testifying before courts against police officers.
Renu Gunathilake has witnessed the brutal killing of a psychological impaired person allegedly by police officers off the Bambalapitiya beach in Colombo a month ago
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A grim journey through Sri Lanka’s war zone
November 30 2009 – wsws
The full scale of the destruction caused to the northern Vanni area in Sri Lanka by the Rajapakse government’s military offensive against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is still not known to the outside world, even though the war ended after the defeat of the LTTE more than six months ago.
A vast area from Mannar on the northwestern coast through Kilinochchi to the Mullaithivu district on the eastern coast was depopulated and properties were destroyed in the military offensive. Thousands of Tamil civilians were killed and tens of thousands maimed in the indiscriminate bombing and shelling. More than 250,000 people fled to government-controlled areas, only to detained under squalid conditions in huge camps near Vavuniya and elsewhere.
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Fishermen injured in Lanka Navy ‘attack’
November 30 2009 – Press Trust of India
Rameswaram (TN), Nov 30 (PTI) Six fishermen were injured today in an alleged attack by Sri Lankan Navy near the International Maritime Boundary line today, Fishermen’s association said.
The Lankan naval men also snatched their Global Positioning equipment, cell phones, fish and nets worth about Rs 10 lakh, the association president Ramesh told reporters here.
The fishermen were part of a group that were put to sea in 25 mechanised boats, he said.
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