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Leading News from Sri Lanka ::
Nov 07, Colombo: The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR said some 90,000 of Sri Lanka's Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have returned to their homes in the past three months under the Sri Lankan government's resettlement program.
At a press briefing on Friday (06) at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic, said that last two weeks alone some 39,000 have left the welfare camps.
The majority of the IDPs have been resettled in their original homes in the districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Ampara. Small numbers have also gone back to the Polonnaruwa district, he said.
According to the UNHCR, an additional 16,500 persons have been released from the camps and are now accommodated with host families. This includes a number of people with special needs such as the elderly, pregnant women and those with disabilities who have been released to specialized care institutions.
The spokesperson said the UNHCR is monitoring the areas the IDPs are returning to ensure that minimum return standards are met, such as completion of demining and access to services.
In support of the government's return process, UNHCR, together with other UN agencies, is distributing relief items such as sleeping mats, bed sheets and hurricane lamps to the returnees, he said.
Additionally, the UNHCR is providing the returning families with a shelter grant of Rs 25,000 as a first step towards helping them rebuild their homes and restart their lives, which they can access through the Bank of Ceylon, Mahecic said.
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