Sri Lanka resettlement efforts continue

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa says he expects the resettlement of 265,000 displaced Tamil people to be completed by the end of the year.

Rajapaksa also said day passes would be provided for refugees living in government camps so they could look for work outside the camps, the BBC said Friday.

Fewer than 15,000 people, displaced by war, have left the government camps to date, United Nations figures show.

The BBC said Rajapaksa's comments came amid numerous expressions of concern in Sri Lanka and abroad regarding the displaced individuals' welfare.