The government provides Rs 35 for an adult per day and Rs 20 for a child. Although the money is given every 15 days, there was no payment in February and the refugees can afford only one frugal meal a day. Some families are accommodated in shelters outside the main camp. Refugees say the camps are cramped and the roofs leak during rains. The situation is becoming worse as more refugees arrive in Vavuniya from the LTTE-held Vanni.
The refugees complained to press reporters from Colombo in late February that the camps are managed more like prisons. Although the security forces claim that 12-hour passes are issued, camp residents say that they are allowed only four hours outside camps. Students were earlier given weekly permits to attend school, but now they are expected to obtain permits every day.
According to the US State Department Tamil militant groups such as PLOTE gain access to the camps by bribery and threats and complaints about their activities within camps continue. Poonthottam camp residents K Pushpanathan and S Ramakrishnan were wounded when they were attacked by police on 28 January.
Sanitary conditions are extremely poor in the camps which are referred to as ‘welfare centres’. Refugees say that in some camps cleaning of latrines are irregular and may be causing disease. When complaints are made about camp conditions they are being threatened with transfer to other areas. The refugees are expected to sign a document on arrival stating that they are entering camps at their free will.
The security forces have refused permission to many refugees to go to southern Sri Lanka or to settle in areas of their choice in Vavuniya. The district Army commander Tissa Jayawardena says that only Vavuniya residents are permitted to resettle in the district. Others, he says, can make applications. UNP MP Segu Isadeen told Parliament in late February that Tamils wishing to leave the north and travel to southern Sri Lanka must complete a 14-page application form answering over 200 questions.
The other people in Vavuniya District are expected to hold resident permits. The current permits are being withdrawn and new permits, which must be renewed every three months, are issued. Police say the new measure follows the discovery of forged permits and recent bomb attacks in Vavuniya and Colombo. Seven people were arrested in late February in connection with the bomb attack on the Vavuniya post office in January.