Tamil refugee issue raises concerns

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, June 12 (UPI) -- A U.N. official says many of the tens of thousands of displaced Sri Lankan Tamils may still be in shelters a year from now despite government promises.

An estimated 250,000 people fled their homes during last month's final phase of the Sri Lankan military push that ended the 26-year rebellion of the Tamil Tiger separatists seeking a separate homeland for the Tamil-speaking minority on the predominantly Buddhist Indian Ocean island nation.

Quoting Sri Lankan military sources, Mark Cutts told the BBC: "Senior military officials have also told us that they don't expect to see any significant returns in the next six months. On the contrary, some senior officials told us just yesterday that they expect probably not more than 20 percent of these people will have returned in the next year."

Sri Lankan Human Right Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, describing the comments as "absolutely false," told the BBC it was not the military but the government which took decisions on such matters. He said government aims at resettling most of the displaced persons by the end of this year.

Many of the displaced persons are now kept in government-run camps in the northern district of Vavuniya.

The BBC report said the United Nations is concerned the shelters appear to be of a permanent nature, as efforts were under way to set up phone lines, schools and banks.

The government has said the displaced persons are being resettled only after ensuring they have no links to the Tiger rebels.

However, the United Nations said many of those already vetted have still not been released.