TN govt to build 500 new houses for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees

Chennai, Sep 16 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu government is scouting for property near the Kottapattu Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camp in Tiruchi district for building new homes for the refugees living in the camp.

There are 107 rehabilitation camps for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the state. Most of these camps came into existence in 1987.

The rehabilitation camps at Kottapattu in Tiruchi district and Mandapam in Ramanathapuram district are among the biggest refugee camps in the state.

The camp at Kottapattu has 470 houses and about 1,200 Sri Lankan refugees living there. There have been several petitions and appeals from the refugees inhabiting this camp on the deteriorating conditions of the houses and the need for the construction of new ones.

After detailed studies and based on field reports of the condition of the camps, it was found that many houses in the refugee camps were unsuitable for living.

On the basis of this study and the demands of the inmates, the Commissionerate of Rehabilitation and the Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils has decided to build new houses at Kottapattu.

A high-level meeting held recently at the Tamil Nadu Secretariat has given the go-ahead for constructing new houses. According to the information available, the state government has sanctioned Rs 30 crore for the construction of the new houses and land is being identified for this project.

Sources in the Tamil Nadu government told IANS that the construction would soon commence and that the Commissionerate has already shortlisted a few lands in the vicinity of the present Kottapattu refugee camp.

The official sources also said that the inmates of the camp would not be disturbed until the completion of new houses, and they would continue to live in the existing ones.

They would move to the new campus after the allocation of new houses only, said the officials.

It may be recalled that after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), some of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camps were moved away from the coastal regions to the interiors of Tamil Nadu. This, according to the Union Home Department was to prevent contact amongst the refugees belonging to different camps. There were also strict restrictions imposed on these refugees on their freedom of movement.

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