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RIGHTS GROUP OF THE TAMILS CALLS THE WORK OF UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND HOLLOW AND HUMBUG REGARDING CHILD SOLDIERS
Photo
Sri Lanka's UNICEF representative lays a foundation stone for the transit center at a ceremony the separatist flag of the LTTE and not Sri Lanka's national flag was hoisted. The transit center is to rehabilitate LTTE child soldiers. But LTTE child abductions are still taking place and a main culprit for the crimes S.Thilak was an honored guest at the ceremony.
(photo by LTTE news website, Tamil Net )
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

July 21.08.55 AM:The effort of the UNICEF, the United Nation’s Children’s Fund dealing with the child conscription of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is “hollow” and “amounts to a humbug” charged the leading crusader against child conscription for war in Sri Lanka, The University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) in an update report.

The report issued July 20, said, “ the impression is being created that the problem of child conscription is under control. But the reality is that in recent months people have been made very conscious of the LTTE’s apparatus of terror through a spate of political killings, and in areas where significant child conscription is being reported, community leaders are afraid even to hint at it”

The human rights group’s report came at a time the UNICEF is pouring money to a NGO suspected of having secret connections with the LTTE called the Tamil Refugee Organization for the rehabilitation of Tamil children who were once kidnapped from their homes and schools and recruited by force in military activities by the rebel group.

The UTHR(J) is not the only organization dissatisfied with the work of the UNICEF regarding the child soldiers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, believed to be having more than 10,000 child soldiers in their military barracks . UNICEF and other international bodies are not allowed to visit these barracks and make an independent studies of this “horrible” problem.

Professor Harendra De Silva, the head of the Sri Lanka Child Protection Authority told a London broadcasting station recently that the release of Tamil child soldiers had become the biggest joke in the world since the LTTE was releasing child soldiers from one end and abducting children from their homes and schools from the other end.

Meanwhile the UTHR(J) in its latest report said , “UNICEF’s strategy for dealing with child conscription by the LTTE, by treating it as a separate issue from democracy and political normalization, is looking increasingly hollow. It would amount to a humbug that simply pours money into the coffers of the TRO. We have reports that a significant number of minors have recently been conscripted in the Valaichenai area. On the night of 5th July, up to 25 conscripts were being driven in a tractor-trailer to Vaharai, when some of them escaped. A number of other reports too have appeared in the Press. One was of Ramupillai Subramaniam, father of 14-year-old Vijaya Nandini from Muttur, who committed suicide after he failed to obtain the release of his daughter who was abducted by the LTTE on 1st July.”

Regardless of the criticism , as reported in the news website of the LTTE, the Tamil Net, local UNICEF officials in Sri Lanka , the LTTE military officials in the Eastern Province who are the worst culprits of the child abductions ,and the Tamil Refugee Organization officials took part in a ceremony in the LTTE controlled area of East Muttur to lay a foundation stone for ,” the transit canter for the protection and welfare of children under eighteen years affected by war at Kadatkaraichcenai “ near Trincomalee.

The Tamil Net report said, “UNICEF Sri Lanka resident Representative Ms Chris Watkins laid the foundation stone followed by the Executive Director of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organization Mr. Reggie, LTTE Trincomalee district political head Mr.S.Thilak, UNICEF Trincomalee representative Ms Gabrielle Elroy, TRO Trincomalee district Director Mr.K.Mathavarajah and several leading citizens of the area.”

According to latest allegations the above-mentioned S.Thilak is the man heavily involved in the current child abductions by the LTTE.

In his earlier broadcast Professor Harendra de Silva accused the international community and organizations for showing little interest in this worst human rights violation and said they had shown a declined concern in the problem In recent times, they miserably failed to bring any pressure on the rebel group to bring this misery of the Tamil children to a permanent halt, Professor de Silva said.

At this UNICEF ceremony the separatist flag of the LTTE and not Sri Lanka’s national flag was hoisted.

(20/07/03 go2lanka.com)