In brief
New funds
Tamil Nadu’s DMK government has reserved 28 university seats for Sri Lankan refugee students. It has also increased the monthly payment to each refugee family by Rs 50 and allocated Rs 50 million for repair of refugee huts from state funds.
Protest
Seventy Sri Lankan Tamils staged a protest fast in Sydney in mid-June against a decision to deport them. In early July another 17 Tamil refugees landed at Coral Bay in western Australia, 700 miles north of Perth.
Convicted
The Colombo High Court on 1 July convicted Sunday Times editor Sinha Ratnatunge accused of defaming President Kumaratunge in an article on 15 February 1995. Mr Ratnatunge was sentenced to 18 months suspended imprisonment.
Arrest
Former UNP Housing minister Sirisena Cooray was arrested by police under Emergency regulations on 16 June. According to the media, police have uncovered a plot to assassinate President Kumaratunge.
Refugees
Of the 74,900 people who arrived in Vavuniya from the Vanni since October 1996, 11,800 still remain in 11 camps. Over 5,000 have returned to LTTE areas in the Vanni and 58,000 have been sent to Jaffna.
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