A delegation from Caritas, Sri Lanka-Sedec led by the Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis, Archbishop of Colombo, pledged their complete support to the government in providing relief to the IDPs who have left LTTE held territory and come to government areas in the Vanni.

They said this at a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa, held at Temple Trees, May 11. Among the delegation were the Bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa Rev. Dr. Kingsley Swamipillai, the Bishop of Ratnapura Rev. Cletus C Perera, the Bishop of Galle & Chairman CSL-SEDEC Rev. Dr. Harold Anthony Perera and National Director CSL-CEDEC Rev. Fr. Damian Fernando.

The Bishops thanked the government for speedy action taken for the welfare of the IDPs who had come in such large numbers in a very short time.

Among the areas of assistance they could provide would be psycho-social relief, counseling, aspects of child care and the supply of food and other essentials.

The delegation informed the President that they would be able to use the tremendous experience gathered in Tsunami relief work to deal with the current situation.

President Rajapaksa thanked the Bishops for their cooperation and said he looked forward to continuing a fruitful dialog and association.
Caritas International is the social service arm of the Holy See in the Vatican.

Mr. Basil Rajapaksa, MP and Senior Advisor to the President, Ministers Milroy Fernando, Felix Perera and the Secretary to the President Mr. Lalith Weeratunga participated in this discussion.