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Government Jaffna MP slams paltry compensation for missing persons’ relatives 

25 Mar 2022

  • Rs. 100,000 one-off payment wholly insufficient, claims Angajan Ramanathan 
BY Dinitha Rathnayake  Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) Jaffna District Government MP Angajan Ramanathan claimed that the Government’s decision to pay compensation to missing persons’ relatives is totally unacceptable, owing to the paltry nature of the sum, and also since such payment does not constitute a permanent solution to the issue.  Last week, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a proposal by Justice Minister M.U.M. Ali Sabry (President’s Counsel) to pay a one-time payment of Rs.100,000 to the next of kin of a missing person.  Speaking to The Morning, Ramanathan said that the amount of Rs. 100,000 that has been decided to be paid as compensation is not sufficient at all.  “We need a permanent solution for this problem. All the people who went missing were breadwinners. The life of a person is worth only Rs. 100,000 – is that what the Government is saying? The families are still unaware of whether their missing family members are alive or not. The relatives of those who are searching for the missing do not accept this. We have to give them a solution that they accept. They need justice.”  Ramanathan emphasised to the Government that a lasting solution should be provided to the problem of missing persons, without the resort to temporary plaster like solutions.  “The Government should provide jobs to the daughters and sons of these missing persons and take care of them. That’s how proper solutions work.”  Meanwhile, he urged the Tamil community not to flee from Sri Lanka to be refugees in another country.  “The country is in a crisis. We all know that flying isn’t the solution to this temporary crisis. We need to fight as a country to get through this.”  New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) on Wednesday (23) revealed that as Sri Lanka is facing its worst ever economic crisis, with electricity blackouts and the shortage of essential goods leading to massive protests, its nationals have started seeking refuge in India. The NDTV report said that the Indian Coast Guard on Tuesday (22), apprehended six Sri Lankan nationals including three children, all residents of Jaffna and Kokupadaiyan in the Northern region of the island nation, who were reportedly fleeing unemployment and food shortage. They were rescued from an island near Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.


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