James Elder, a senior official with the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), held a visa until July next year to serve in Sri Lanka. He is the first UN official carrying a UN passport with diplomatic status to be asked to leave Sri Lanka. Two week’s time has been given after he appealed from an order to leave immediately.

Members of paramilitary groups are carrying on a lucrative trade smuggling out Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from camps for large sums of money, an investigation by the Sunday Times revealed.