Sri Lankan minister asks rehabilitated Tiger rebels to be productive citizens

Sri Lanka's Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Minister D.E.W. Gunasekara has called on the rehabilitated former Tamil Tiger rebel cadres to make optimum use of the facilities provided by the government for their welfare and contribute to the development of the nation.

The government has so far released about 5,300 rehabilitated LTTE cadres who had completed the Government Rehabilitation Programme.
During the final stages of war last year about 11,000 LTTE cadres surrendered to the security forces.

The Minister said the Government has provided education facilities to the former fighters as they had not pursued education for the last 30 years. The cadres who were former university students have been granted re-entry to the universities to complete their studies, the Minister said.

Gunasekara emphasized the need to complete the rehabilitation process at the earliest possible date adding that the technology has been upgraded and the government is providing them the required technological assistance.

The minister requested the youth to take maximum advantage of the government programme to enrich their lives.