COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
7 MARCH <strong>2012</strong> SRI LANKA<br />
transit, return and resettlement areas. The Committee is further concern about the<br />
absence of accurate data on children who have died as a result of the conflict and the<br />
difficulties of families to obtain death certificates.‖<br />
21.25 On 1 August 2011 Irin 419 reported that:<br />
―More than two years after Sri Lanka's decades-long conflict officially ended, the<br />
whereabouts of 630 children are unknown, according to a government database.<br />
―Most went missing during the final phase of the war that ended on 18 May 2009, when<br />
government forces declared victory over the now defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil<br />
Eelam (LTTE), who had been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1983.<br />
―According to reports cited by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), 64 percent of those<br />
missing were recruited by the LTTE while 30 percent were last seen behind government<br />
lines.<br />
―In December 2009, Charles [Piencia Charles, the most senior government official in the<br />
Vavuniya District], set up the Family Tracing Unit within the Vavuniya Divisional<br />
Secretariat.<br />
―To date, more than 600 children have been reunited with their parents through the unit,<br />
with 13 cases pending and under verification.<br />
―Another 34 names given by parents have been matched with those on the database,<br />
with officers now trying to locate the children.<br />
―Recently the number of people coming to Charles for help in finding their children has<br />
decreased. However, tracing those still on the list will take time.‖<br />
21.26 On 29 August 2011 BBC Sinhala 420 reported:<br />
―Almost 600 children out of 1800 have been reunited with their families by UNICEF with<br />
the coordination of several organizations, Vavuniya Government Agent (GA) PSM<br />
Charles told BBC Tamil service.<br />
―Ms Charles also said that with the help of UNICEF, actions are underway to find out<br />
whereabouts of those missing children as she received tearful pleas from more than<br />
1000 parents in the region.‖<br />
21.27 Additional information is available from the UN <strong>Report</strong> of the Secretary-General on<br />
children and armed conflict in Sri Lanka<br />
21.28 Specific information on the return to Sri Lanka of families with children; unaccompanied<br />
and separated children reintegration support post return and monitoring mechanisms for<br />
children is available from the European Commission, Comparative Study on Practices in<br />
the Field of Return of Minors, December 2011 (see section 5.6 on Sri Lanka).<br />
419 Irin, Sri Lanka, Over 600 war children still missing, 1 August 2011<br />
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93381 date accessed 21 January <strong>2012</strong><br />
420 BBC Sinhala, 1000 children 'still missing' since war, 29 August 2011<br />
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sinhala/news/story/2011/08/110829_children_missing.shtml date accessed 21<br />
January <strong>2012</strong><br />
The main text of this <strong>COI</strong> <strong>Report</strong> contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section<br />
to 2 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
163