Today I feel free from my past, but more importantly am starting to feel normal again, a rehabilitated ex LTTE member said.

Thayasevan, aged 36 was released recently after rehabilitation.

'I lost my leg fighting for LTTE and until recently felt I had lost my entire life' he told IRIN.

“It was a gruesome time being with the LTTE. I have suffered physically and emotionally. I could not even attend to my dying mother due to LTTE regulations. It was a very heart-breaking time.

After the war, I was placed in a rehabilitation centre, while my wife and two children returned to our village and resettled, he said.

“Last year [in the rehabilitation centre] was particularly tough for us financially - so tough that my wife had to take up fishing to feed our children.

He said: "When I returned from the rehabilitation centre in 2010, I wasn’t really able to manage things for my family and wondered what the future held.

“Without a job I felt disabled and soon found myself having to borrow money to get by. It was a terrible time for us.

“Fortunately, after two months I was able to find work lagoon fishing.

Today, things are slowly improving and I have paid back my debts and even bought a small plot of land for a house. More importantly, however, the community has accepted me back - accepting me as one of their own, Thayasevan added.

Photo: courtesy of IOM Sri Lanka