Government assures Muslims solutions to concerns

The Government today assured Muslims who suffered during the war, solutions to their concerns.

Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said that?Muslims will be an integral part of the truth, justice, reparations and non-recurrence process.

He said that Muslims? grievances and concerns will be a part of the consultations, design and operationalization of the domestic mechanisms; including the Commission for Truth, Justice, Reconciliation and Non-recurrence, the Judicial Mechanism, the Office of Missing Persons and the Office of Reparations.

Together with the Ministries and government agencies, these mechanisms, will provide much needed relief to the daily struggle of the thousands of Muslims who remain in IDP camps, are struggling to return to their homes or are dealing with the losses of loved ones.

“These mechanisms will not only address the suffering and grievances of members of the Muslim community, they will also address the grievances and concerns of members of the Sinhala and Tamil communities and the concerns of other minority groups,” he said.

The Foreign Minister was speaking at an event held today to mark the?commemoration of the 25th Anniversary of the expulsion of Muslims from the North.

In October 1990 the LTTE gave 75,000 Muslims under forty-eight hours to leave their ancestral homes across the North and take nothing more than their clothes and 500 rupees to live in IDP camps ? where an estimated 80 percent remain 25 years later.

Samaraweera said that a?few Tamils criticized the LTTE while many justified their actions and even today Muslims returning to their homes face majoritarian resistance from Tamil bureaucrats. (Colombo Gazette)