World leaders urged to help Sri Lankan refugees

Colombo: An international rights group yesterday urged world leaders to call on Sri Lanka to free hundreds of thousands of displaced people detained in camps since the island's civil war ended.

New York-based Human Rights Watch urged leaders to raise the issue with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake when he participates in the UN General Assembly sessions this week. "The civilians locked up in these detention camps have a right to liberty now, not when the government gets around to it," said Brad Adams, the Asia director for the group.

Nearly 300,000 ethnic Tamils are held in military-run camps where their movements are restricted, rights groups say, and impending monsoon rains could create health crises. UN official B. Lynn Pascoe, who visited last week, expressed concern over the lack of pace in resettlement.