07/26/2010, 00.00
SRI LANKA
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Thousands of student orphans from Sri Lanka's civil war

by Melani Manel Perera
More than 8 thousand children are without parents due to civil war between government and LTTE. In one school alone in a village, more than 200 students have lost their parents. Members of the People's Freedom party visit villages in the area of Gaudarimunai in the north to understand the situation, and charge "the government is trying to undermine our work."

Colombo (AsiaNews) - In a Gaudarimunai, Poonekeri district of Kilinochchi in northern Sri Lanka, lives a large number of children who have lost their parents during the civil war. Some members of the opposition People's Freedom Party (JVP), visited several villages to understand the situation and seek assistance for those most affected by civil war between government and LTTE, which ended in may 2009.

Bimal Rathnayake, former MP and member of the group, said yesterday in Colombo: "We visited a school where 102 students lost their mother, 97 their father  and 15 both. It is a tragedy. Several NGOs have estimated that there are about 8 thousand students in similar conditions, but the government has still no official figures".

According to reports from Rathnayake, many children are disabled because they were treated poorly after the war: "These students did not receive appropriate medical treatment, but we believe that surgery can correct their physical problems."

These children have not received no help and the former parliamentary does not spare criticism of the government: "After our visit, the military interrogated villagers to know what we were investigating. This is a political act, the government wants to obstruct the mission of the opposition in the north. "  

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