Sri Lanka, which won its war against terrorism has a responsibility by its people to win the peace by accelerating the resettlement process of the IDPs belonging to all communities, UNDP Director for Asia and the Pacific, Ajay Chhibber told Daily Mirror online today.
Mr. Chhibber said while the UNDP welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s efforts to annihilate terrorism it fervently hoped that Sri Lanka respected the time table it has given the UN for resettling the IDPs.
“While we understand the government’s concern to have proper logistics in place before the IDPs return to their places of origin, we have conveyed to the government that an undue delay in the process will go to undermine the faith the IDPs and the international community have on the government” said the UNDP Regional Director.
“We sincerely hope that Sri Lanka will respect the commitment it made to its people and the international community” he added reminding that the UNDP has set aside a big budget to help the returnees once the government sends them to their places of origin.
Chhibber said he expressed the UNDP concerns to Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama when he met the latter recently in New York. He added that a swift yet a well co-ordinated resettlement programme will help the government to win the confidence of the IDP population which will benefit the government immensely in the long run.
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