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Sri Lankan minister pledges houses for Sinhala villagers in North-East

Sri Lanka’s fisheries minister Mahinda Amaraweera pledged to build homes for the 590 Sinhala families who are living in Mullaitivu, following a visit to the North-East on Saturday.

Mr Amaraweera said he would work towards granting land rights to the Sinhala families, who live in Nayaru and Kokilai villages, stating he had appointed a government committee to look into the issue.

The Sinhala villagers have reportedly been living in the North-East for 50 years.

Tamils had earlier protested that the Sinhala families were receiving unfair assistance form the government, including monitoring and protection from the military to venture into areas off limits to Tamils.

See our earlier post: Jaffna fishermen demonstrate against military assistance to Southern fishermen (07 Oct 2014)

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