Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission suggests measures to ease the lives of Sri Lanka's displaced people

Sri Lanka's Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa has suggested immediate administrative measures to ease the lives of resettled Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and all people living in the former war-battered areas.
The eight members of the LLRC who met President Rajapaksa at the Temple Trees Tuesday brought the measures that require only changes in administrative practices to President's attention, the official government media unit said.

According to the government, among the immediate measures suggested is, ensuring facilities to members of the public to use their own language in official transactions with government departments, especially the ability to make statements to the police in one's own language.

The measures suggested by the LLRC have been drawn from the evidence the Commission gathered from the citizens in the former conflict ridden areas when it held public sessions in those areas last month and from the evidence given by other individuals and organizations who were keen to see an early return to normalcy in these areas, with effective action towards reconciliation, the government noted.
The government says that the Commission has a mandate to recommend measures for restorative justice for those affected by the conflict, giving it a broader mandate than commissions held elsewhere.

The LLRC has so far held 14 public sittings in Colombo and 6 public sittings in Vavuniya. It is to hold public sessions in Kilinochchi on September 16, 17 and 18.