42,000 refugees back in Mutur

Resettlement of people displaced as a result of recent clashes in Mutur is nearing completion with 42,000 of the 46,000 people who had sought refuge in Kantale and elsewhere returning to Mutur, officials said.

Children of the Mutur displaced families are all smiles as they return to their homes in a bus provided by the government. Pic by Bertie Mendis

They said the Government had also dispatched 13 teams including technical officers to the Mutur area to make assessments of damage to property and compensation.

Meanwhile Government Agents of Colombo, Gampaha, Kandy and two other districts have been instructed to make arrangements to send the refugees in those districts back to Mutur.

The officials said the Government had deployed 200 buses to transport the refugees from Kantale to Mutur, while some of the displaced were using their own transport including bullock carts and tractors to get back to Mutur.

In Mutur, procedures are underway to register the people arriving and ensure that financial assistance is given to them, but some of the refugees were sceptical about the assistance reaching them soon.