In addition, there are also reports that government had restricted access to the IDP camps. However, when the author questioned Dr. Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary General of the Peace Secretariat, he denied the allegations: “Actually they (aid organizations) do have full access to the camps. There was much confusion last month, when there was no access to the conflict area, but Susan Rice for instance got it wrong when she asked for access to the camps, at a time when the UN and 52 agencies were functioning there.”

“Last week there was a moratorium on vehicles, since so many agencies having half a dozen vehicles each was a nuisance, in addition to a worry about some of them smuggling people out. Access however continues, and if people cannot walk in the camps, there is provision to keep a couple of vehicles inside to transport them round, but on leaving they must descend from the vehicle and go through the gate and get into another vehicle,” he further added.

In addition, a democratic Tamil activist who spoke conditions of anonymity fearing Tiger reprisals had a similar view: “IDP camps are set up under extremely difficult circumstances. Therefore having to manage thousands of refugees in the conditions they come is no joke. The western press is the most inhuman-hearted lot in the world. They want sensational news - horrible hounds that they are – and can aggravate any situation. You know what they did to Princess Diana. Then there was the danger of LTTE suicide bombers and even cadres creeping in - and you are aware arms were buried all over the Wanni with some dastardly intention.

The IDP camps were ideal for Tiger cadres to creep in. Then there are the INGOs and NGOs who haveunashamedly helped the Tigers. They would want to throw mud at the IDP camps. All sorts of elements went to action against the Government of Sri Lanka. In Tamil Nadu Tamil refugees are living in terrible camps some for twenty years or so,” he added

Meanwhile Professor S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole, former vice chancellor of Jaffna University speaking to the author had a different view.

“My only agreement is that settling the IDPs is a challenge to the government. Look at the full picture. Tamils are suspicious of the government’s bona fides. The government has been repeatedly caught lying. It started with low numbers for the civilians stuck in the Vanni. As refugees came out these numbers were inflated without any reference to its previous claims. This was to now claim that the battle they were fighting was a hostage rescue operation".

"They also lied about the bombings of hospitals despite so many testimonies from reliable witnesses. Today it is about conditions in the camps. I am personally aware that some camps or refugee areas are out of access to aid workers and UN officials – despite the people you cite. Psychosocial care is prohibited to prevent IDP experiences from coming out. There are clear indications from government spokesmen that at least some of these IDPs are going to be locked up for years. "

"As a responsible news organization with obligations to your readers, you really need to stop quoting this government and report only what you yourself know to be true. The government by its own words and actions in this war has proved that it does not care two bits for its Tamil citizens and is just like the LTTE as far as I am concerned. Anything it says now is for propaganda purposes. Overcoming this image is the government’s real problem.

So long as these IDPs (who really have the most to celebrate about the demise of the LTTE since it treated them so badly) are to be caged with no proper care, the circumstances are ripe for another rebellion. Just look at what those at the highest levels of government tell us Tamils: ‘No more minorities. Tamils must not ask for anything. Twenty percent of you are Tigers. A Buddhist temple is to be built in Jaffna.’ I have never been so scared in my
life for our future as a people.”

Despite allegations and counter-allegations, one fact is clear. The government must resettle the IDP’s within a fixed timetable. The government conduct on IDPs during the next 8 or so months will determine Tamil-Sinhala relationships in the future, and so indicate if there really will be any change in the course of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.