Colombo, Jan 24: A breakaway Tamil Tiger faction now
allied with the government has said all child soldiers in the
eastern Sri Lanka would be rehabilitated within three months
and that it would release the remaining underage cadres soon.
Karuna Amman, a former top commander of LTTE supremo
Velupillai Prabhakaran who broke ranks with the rebel outfit
to form the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), said an
agreement to this effect had been reached among his party, the
government and the UNICEF.
"According to the agreement, we have to finish the entire
task of rehabilitating child soldiers within three months. We
have already done a lot for the welfare of these children," he
told reporters on Friday at the Parliament complex.
Karuna, whose real name is Vinayagamoorthi Muralidharan,
recently took oath as a Parliament member.
He said the TMVP handed over 14 underage cadres to the
new Child Welfare Office opened in eastern Batticaloa on
Thursday. It will hand over another 20 cadres within the next
two weeks, he said.
The TMVP in collaboration with the government and the
UNICEF has arranged a rehabilitation programme for the welfare
of these children.
Muralidharan said: "The TMVP does not have any of its own
armed force as the Government has provided adequate security
to all TMVP representatives. Earlier we had a small force for
our own security". UNICEF representative in Sri Lanka Philippe Duamelle said the government and the TMVP has made a firm commitment to put an end to the child soldier issue.
Concrete action has been taken in this area under the new
agreement signed on December 7 last year, he said.
"The TMVP releasing 14 children has shown its utmost
commitment to pursue this effort. The needs of all children
will be identified while they will be given assistance. Our
final objective is to make collaborative efforts which would
enable Sri Lanka to turn the number of child soldiers to zero
point very soon," he said.
"We call upon the LTTE to meet their responsibility and
guarantee the lives of the civilians. It is important to give
their due childhood to the children," the UNICEF official
said.
Human rights groups and aid agencies say there are still
a number of child soldiers serving in the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam`s armed forces. They are also concerned over the
condition of children trapped in the war zone as government
troops corner Tamil rebels in a 400 sq km area in northern
Mullaittivu.
Bureau Report
