IDP resettlement

The acknowledgement by the international community that the resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Sri Lanka is being carried out according to international standards is possibly the best endorsement received by the Government on its treatment of the country’s conflict displaced.

According to our lead story yesterday quoting the Foreign Ministry the criteria adopted in the resettlement of IDPs have come in for the highest praise by the international community, as a voluntary process undertaken according to international standards.

Among the world bodies that have lauded the Government in this regard are the UN High Commission for Refugees and the World Food Programme.

It is also a powerful statement considering the many allegations levelled at the Government in recent times over allegations of human rights violations and victimisation of minorities.

This goes on to prove the international community’s approbation of the even handed approach by the Government in confronting the problem.

That the bulk of the IDPs are from the minority community in the conflict zone is all too well known although there is a sizeable segment of majority community living in the vulnerable areas who too have been forced to vacate their homesteads and are confined to camps.

In the Eastern Province alone over 108,000 IDPs have already returned to their homes and it is estimated that nearly 38,000 persons are still living in Welfare Centres or temporary accommodation.

The delay in their resettlement has been attributed to the ongoing process of the clearing of landmines which is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.

While the Government deserved the plaudits it has received from the international community for the speedy measures to resettle IDPs it has to be admitted that much more needs to be done as far as the welfare of the IDPs are concerned.

There is an urgent need to prepare these segments who have been uprooted from their habitats for decades to induct them into a normal civilian life. This is particularly so with regard to the Muslim population driven away from the North by the LTTE.

True, a special Ministry has been created to specifically deal with IDPs and the utmost is being done to provide these unfortunates the nearest to a normal life. The recent accomplishment of an IDP at the year five scholarship examination is but an example of the steps taken by the authorities to ensure the a smooth lifestyle for the conflict displaced.

The acknowledgement of the international community of the Government’s commitment towards the welfare of the IDPs will also go a long way in dispelling some of the notions ingrained in the Western nations on unfounded allegations of human rights violations and other myths propagated by those with a sinister agenda to bring the Government into disrepute in the eyes of the international community.

We hope the international Community has at last set the record the straight vis-a-vis the Government’s commitment to the welfare of the minorities.

The drug menace

With the conflict and the rising CoL, little attention is being focused on the rising wave of drug crime. Today, drug related crime has assumed monstrous proportions while the law enforcement agencies are placed in predicament due to the big money involved in the narcotics trade.

The nexus between the drug mafia, corrupt law enforcement personnel and powerful figures is only too well known to need elaboration. We occasionally read about narcotics detections at the airport.

But these are likely to be small fry. One recalls the huge scandal that swept the law enforcement establishment some time ago when it was reported that a former Police Chief had attended the birthday party of the offspring of a drug baron at a Five Star hotel.

Today the drugs trade has spread its tentacles to such an extent that even convicted drug lords lead luxurious lives inside their prison cells. For the first time in Sri Lanka a respected judge was gunned down by members of a drug cartel - a clear reflection of the extent to which the drugs business has taken a grip in society.

It is in this context that one should harken to the statement made by onetime top sleuth DIG Ramachandra Sundaralingam. The one time crack anti-narcotic expert now with Interpol speaking at the International Customs Day ceremony in India said that the drug trade was expanding globally and the drug mafia was working in a consortium.

He said narcotics were today available in large quantities and freely at affordable prices. The drug menace is certainly a by product of the open economy and had meaningful steps been taken at the outset to tackle the problem we would not have been fighting with our backs to the wall to the rid the country of the drug menace.

Countries such as Singapore and Malaysia though free market economies imposed the death penalty for drug trafficking which acted as a sound deterrent to deal with drug smuggling.

Sri Lanka too should devise effective measures to plug in the channels that bring drugs into the country if we are to save our future generation.