'SL should release displaced Tamil refugees'

Washington, Oct 20: A leading human rights group has asked Sri Lanka government to immediately release over 2.45 lakh Tamil refugees living in detention groups.

Human Rights Watch said,"The displaced Sri Lankans were already victims of a protracted and bloody civil war. Now they are victims again, confined against their will, like criminals."

"Keeping several hundred thousand civilians who had been caught in the middle of a war penned in these camps is outrageous," said Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Right Watch.

Since the end of the fighting in May, the Government has released or returned fewer than 27,000 people, leaving about 245,000 civilians in the camps.

"The Sri Lankan government is playing games with the lives and hopes oft hose displaced by the country have armed conflict. Its failure to address the genuine grievances of the Tamil community is disastrous for the country," he added.

OneIndia News