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LTTE detention of expatriate Tamils worry others
From Neville de Silva in London
Sri Lankan Tamils who hoped to visit their families in the North during the New Year this month are cancelling their plans following several reports in the last few days that the LTTE is detaining persons unable to pay the large sums demanded by them.

For the last several days the Sri Lankan Tamil community in the Harrow area has been concerned over a report that two brothers resident in Rayners Lane are being held in the Wanni because they were unable to pay Rs 500,000 demanded by LTTE tax collectors as they crossed into Tiger-held territory on their way to Jaffna to see relatives.

This report came hard on the heels of two other reports of another UK resident and another Tamil formerly from Paris being in custody over their inability to meet Tiger demands.

However these stories could not be independently confirmed as even friends of the alleged victims are reluctant to talk. Meanwhile pro-LTTE news sources have been trying to quash these stories claiming that anti-LTTE forces, charging clients £5000 to get them asylum in the UK, are creating stories of Tiger detentions to corroborate cases of atrocities and human rights violations.

Some Tamils who spoke to The Sunday Times on conditions of strict anonymity for fear of Tiger reprisals said they have cancelled plans to travel to the north to see their families this new year because they do not want to be held in detention themselves.“We do not have that kind of money to pay at the LTTE border. We do small jobs and we can hardly manage with the benefits paid by the Council. We found it difficult even to pay for the tickets. But our daughter has never seen Jaffna and so we thought of visiting,” one young man said.

“ I have not been to Sri Lanka for more than seven years. If the LTTE demands money I will not be able to pay and my family will be held,” he said.
He and his family are among several Tamils intending to travel to Sri Lanka who have had second thoughts about making the journey and travelling by road to Jaffna.

However some other Tamil families who earlier lived in Colombo and still have relatives there said they would be going, particularly as they are looking at investing in apartments in new blocks that have sprung up in many parts of Wellawatte and have been built by expatriate Tamils.

Of the two men from Rayners Lane, Harrow, reportedly held for nearly two weeks, one Sivananthan Sivakaran is a British citizen while his brother holds a Sri Lankan passport, according to Tamil sources here who were very reluctant to part with detailed information as it could jeopardise their early release.
Their friends here are trying to raise sufficient funds to pay the LTTE and obtain their release, sources said.

Meanwhile a Sri Lankan Tamil, Vaelauthanpillai Jeyatheeswaran, who ran his own cleaning business in Paris and recently moved to Colombo is reported to be still in Tiger custody over a dispute concerning a Hindu temple in Paris of which he was the trustee.Reports reaching The Sunday Times said the man known as “Kudumbi Jeya” had handed over the administration of the temple to his relatives in France but the LTTE is demanding control over it, as happened in London well over one year ago.

That case ended up in the courts in London and the trusteeship was restored to its previous owners by the High Court.

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