UNHCR closing Batti office as resettlement completes

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UNHCR closing Batti office as resettlement completes
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is closing its office in Batticaloa this week as it starts to scale back its operations with regard to IDPs as resettlement enters the final phase in the Eastern Province.

"As the majority of internally displaced people in Batticaloa District over the last eight years have now returned to their places of origin and have been receiving protection and assistance from UNHCR, we are now able to start phasing down our operations," said UNHCR Representative in Sri Lanka Michael Zwack.

The conflict in the east ended in 2007 and the government resettled the displaced in their places of origin with UNHCR assistance. Once de-mining is completed, those remaining will also be resettled. UNHCR states that they too will be able to return within the next couple of months.

In the North as of today (29 June), only 45,998 IDPs are left to be resettled in their places of origin from the initial 300,000 IDPs who escaped from the LTTE during the humanitarian operations carried out by the Sri Lankan military.

While helping the villagers rebuild their lives after resettlement, the UNHCR is now assisting them to protect themselves against another threat; wild elephants.

Earlier this month UNHCR opened a new community library in Iralaikulam village in the Chenkalady area - a former LTTE stronghold.

"The people asked us to rebuild their library which was destroyed by the natural elements and wild elephants in their absence," said the Head of UNHCR's Batticaloa office, Francis Muwonge.

Solar lamps, provided by UNHCR as a security measure, help to protect the library and village from visits by wild elephants which can cause considerable destruction.

Courtesy: Policy Research & Information Unit of the Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka