World | Other World Stories
Tamils told to register with police
Sri Lankan authorities yesterday ordered tens of thousands of ethnic Tamils living in Colombo to register with police as fighting in the country's civil war grew fiercer.
- AP
- Published: 00:18 September 19, 2008
- A member of the police Special Task Force (STF) stops a vehicle at a checkpoint at the entrance to the capital Colombo.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Colombo: Sri Lankan authorities yesterday ordered tens of thousands of ethnic Tamils living in Colombo to register with police as fighting in the country's civil war grew fiercer.
Police spokesman Ranjith Gunasekera announced yesterday that every Sri Lankan who came to Colombo from the north in the past five years would have to reregister with police in a mass registration drive Sunday at police stations and other designated centres across the city.
The order will affect more than 100,000 people who came from the districts of Kilinochchi, Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar and Mullaittivu, he said. The overwhelming majority of those people are ethnic Tamils.
"We will not harass people, but we will request, 'Please come,' Gunasekera said, adding that the exercise was simply an effort by authorities to update their records. He did not say what would happen to those who fail to register.
Ethnic Tamils living in the capital have complained of frequent police raids, harassment and arbitrary detentions. Mano Ganesan, a Tamil lawmaker from Colombo, said there would not be enough time to register everyone in one day and few will be able to produce the required documents from government agents in their faraway home districts. Those unable to register will likely be expelled from the city, he said.
Naval forces fought a ferocious sea battle with Tamil Tiger separatists off Sri Lanka's northwestern coast yesterday, sinking 10 boats and killing at least 25 rebel sailors, the military said. The naval confrontation came a day after intense fighting between military forces and the ethnic Tamil separatists in the north killed 60 rebels and 11 soldiers, according to the military. The rebels, meanwhile, said they killed 25 soldiers in fighting yesterday. Fighting has escalated in recent weeks with a resurgent government offensive sweeping rebel-held territory, capturing insurgent bases and threatening to overrun the Tigers' administrative capital at Kilinochchi.
Share this article
News Editor's choice
-
A year after 173 defenceless people were killed
Mumbai itself is far from safe from another deadly attack, even though the level of security consciousness of the average Mumbaikar has been raised since 26/11
-
Nato supports Obama's plea
European and other allies to send around 6,000 troops to Afghanistan
-
Official confirms mayor is the suspect
Many witnesses have come forward, justice secretary says
-
Into an oasis of values
A place to snuggle in the warmth of old manners away from the bustle of city life
