Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2016-07-05

Resettlement of Protracted Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northern Province

- Internal displacement due to conflict situation became a phenomena in Sri Lanka from the decade of 1980s and due to the said situation many Sinhalese and Muslim families, in addition to the Tamil people, who lived in the Northern Province were internally displaced. Although the protracted IDPs commenced returning to their places of origin after conflicts were over, they could not be resettled productively, due to the lack of basic facilities. It has been identified that, for the housing requirement of the protracted returnees, 16,120 houses and 5,543 houses are required for Muslim families and Sinhalese families respectively. Due to the displacement their political rights, including the right to vote, have been adversely affected and they have to face difficulties in registering births and deaths, admitting children to schools and accessing the facilities offered by the Divisional Secretariat and other Government Institutions. Accordingly, in order to facilitate the resettlement activities of the protracted displaced families in the Northern Province and to provide solutions for the issues encountered by them in the said process, the approval of the Cabinet was granted to appoint a Task Force comprising of the Provincial Heads and Senior officials, under the Co‑chairmanship of the Ministers of Industry and Commerce; Provincial Councils and Local Government; and Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs to pursue action as per the recommendations of the said Task Force.