Tamil Nadu MPs return from Sri Lankan Tamil camps

Chennai, Oct 14 : A 10-member team of Tamil Nadu MPs from the DMK, Congress and VCK returned here Wednesday after a five-day tour of Sri Lanka during which they visited Tamil refugee camps and met President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi received them at the Chennai airport. The MPs had gone to Sri Lanka to see and get first-hand information on the condition of internally displaced people (IDP) or Sri Lankan Tamils living in special camps.

According to estimates, around 300,000 people live in these camps. They had fled their homes after a military offensive was launched against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) earlier this year, decimating the rebel force and killing its chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.

The MPs' team met Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa Tuesday and exchanged views on the rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils and broad outline of the political solution for solving the more than two-decade-old ethnic problem.

The Sri Lankan president also mentioned that resettlement of IDPs will be done after demining of the areas concerned is completed.

The MP team led by senior DMK leader T. R. Baalu will submit its tour report to Karunanidhi.(IANS)