Refugee survey

THE Rehabilitation minister Jayalath Jayawardena and UNHCR's Resident Representative N Wright signed an agreement on 25 February to conduct a survey to establish the number of internally displaced people (IDP) in Sri Lanka. According to UNHCR, this is the first time that such a survey has been launched in the region. Mr Jayawardena says that the survey is vital for the plans of the Rehabilitation Ministry to resettle the IDPs and refugees who have fled abroad. Mr Jayawardena believes that there are a million IDPs. The Essential Services Commissioner (ESC) has for several years disputed the IDP statistics submitted by Government Agents in the north-east. In July 1998, the People's Alliance government arbitrarily reduced food supply to refugees in the north-east by 57%, alleging that the food fell into the hands of the LTTE. The government currently provides dry rations to 726,000 IDPs and reports say it spent Rs 3 billion ($31 million) last year. A large number of the IDPs remain displaced for the last 15 years and many were displaced several times as the fighting between the Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE continued.

Mr Jayawardena says that statistics on refugees abroad will also be compiled through the Sri Lankan diplomatic missions. UNHCR estimates that there are 917,000 Sri Lankan refugees in 50 countries. Around 65% of the applications for asylum have been rejected. Several countries are returning refugees under agreements with Sri Lanka. A European-wide agreement is currently being negotiated. The UNHCR estimate includes 120,000 refugees in India, 70,000 of whom are in government camps throughout the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Reports say that some refugees in the Indian camps have expressed the desire to return to Sri Lanka.

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