Parliamentary under Secretary of State for International development, Mike Foster announced funding for three new grants to help resettle Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in northern Sri Lanka yesterday in parliament, the British High Commission said in a press release.

UK will be providing 41 million LKR (£220,000) of UK funding to the Food & Agricultural Organisation (FAO) to help farmers in the West Vanni return rapidly to their fields and resume productive use of their land. Working closely with the Department of Agriculture, FAO will provide paddy seed to enable families to cultivate paddy this current maha season.

We are also providing 94 million LKR (£500,000) to the HALO Trust to de-mine areas of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts to make these areas safe for civilian return. The HALO Trust will coordinate closely with the Sri Lankan armed forces in its mine clearance work, said Mike Foster.

In addition we will be providing 47million LKR (£250,000) to the International Organisation for Migration to provide transport for the thousands of civilians still living in the camps. This money will help 41,000 more civilians have safe and reliable transport in buses and lorries from the camps back to their homes or to host families in the Mannar, Mullaittivu, and Kilinochchi areas.

“Landmines pose a deadly threat to any civilians who try and return home from the camps. But clearing landmines is only part of the solution – we will also transport people back home and give them the means to restart their lives. In the coming months we hope to see significant numbers of civilians returning to the areas where these projects are working.”

“With the war over, our main focus is on helping people affected by the fighting to return to their home areas and rebuild their lives as soon as possible. These two projects support the Sri Lankan Government’s efforts to meet their commitment to return 80% of IDPs to their homes within 180 days. In the coming months we hope to see significant numbers of civilians returning to the areas where these projects are working,” said the British High Commissioner, Dr Peter Hayes.