The Sri Lankan government is not providing help for disadvantaged farmers in the North, TNA MP Selvam Adaikalanathan said in Parliament on Tuesday.

In addition to being affected by natural disasters, farmers in the North face several difficulties, including loan burdens and inflated resource costs.

An army camp in Achuveli will not be closed under any circumstances, due to its importance in preventing the return of the LTTE, military spokesperson Ruwan Wanigasooriya told press on Thursday.

Wanigasooriya claimed that although the lands of nine families had been 'appropriated' to build the camp in 1995, the government was making arrangements to compensate those families.

Sri Lankan police have arrested a group of 13 asylum seekers who were attempting to flee to Australia, including those from the North-East of the island, in a raid reported ColomboPage.

The group, which included people from Jaffna, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya, had each paid a smuggler in Jaffna Rs. 10,000, in order to make the perilous journey over to Australia. The police, acting after receiving a tip-off, have held all of them in custody.

Photograph Salem News

“A large number of women fleeing from the conflict areas during the peak of fighting were sexually assaulted. The abuse was extensive, causing a large number of civilians to flee back to the theater of conflict to escape the abuse”

“The similarity of the torture, rape and sexual violence perpetrated against the witnesses confirms a well-organised pattern of systematic abuse on the part of the Government of Sri Lanka security forces.”

"There is method in this. It is coercive. It is a deliberate policy. People throughout the security forces in Sri Lanka are involved. This is deeply entrenched and systematic."