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camp, no aid: Kinniya Muslim women seek justice The protesters said they had been duped to leave refugee camps and discriminated against in the distribution of aid and reconstruction work. They said they left refugee camps after the Grama Sevaka asked them to move out and live with relatives, promising them that they would be given the same relief assistance. "After we came out of the camps, nothing is being given to us, but those who continued to live in refugee camps are given everything," one protesting woman said. The women demand that in addition to ensuring permanent housing, they should also be provided with cooking utensils and tents. Some of them charged that the government had adopted a ploy to oust people from refugee camps so that it could claim that the tsunami-affected people were being rehabilitated, by pointing out to the decreasing numbers in refugee camps. But others said the ploy was to deny them new houses. More than 1000 families are living in 10 refugee camps and schools in Kinniya. The protesting women, who now occupy Adhan Vidyalayam, said they would not leave the school until the authorities gave them a written assurance that they would be provided with permanent houses and financial assistance. |
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