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Mr. S.P. Thamilchelvan, the political head of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has expressed disappointment with
the UNICEF in a letter on Monday to the resident representative of
the organization in Sri Lanka, Mr. Ted Chaiban, over the UNICEF's
‘vocal’ criticism of the LTTE on the issue of child soldiers,
arguing that the UNICEF, while being vocal on the issue, has failed
in its obligations under an Action Plan agreed upon by both parties
in addressing the community needs and to support the released
underaged cadres. “The basis on which the LTTE signed
the agreement with UNICEF was the recognition that the problem of
underage children was linked to wider social issues including the
devastation of social fabric and displacement resulting in the
destruction of family units. Children of the North-East have endured
experiences due to war ranging from seeing death, disappearance and
injury of family members,” Mr. Thamilchelvan said in his letter to
Mr. Chaiban.
The LTTE political head told Mr. Chaiban that his organization’s
commitment not to engage anyone under the age of 18 in matters
military remained unchanged, and that the LTTE is seriously engaged
in the process of initiating work programs for the welfare of
children.
As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the UNICEF
and LTTE, there are ten sub-projects under the Children Affected by
War (CAW) project. The LTTE said that the majority of these
sub-projects have not been implemented by the UNICEF to an
acceptable level to address existing community needs or even to
support the released children.
The LTTE trusted that UNICEF would address the greater problems
affecting the children of the North-East and the under aged children
who have been released from LTTE in an effective and vigorous manner
according to the Action Plan, said Mr. Thamilchelvan. “
Unfortunately, what has resulted in the last six months has been a
disproportionate emphasis on the release of the children from LTTE,
at the expense of follow-up and attention to issues supporting their
reintegration into the community.”
The LTTE political leader said that the number of underaged children
referred to in recent press statements by the UNICEF has been
“grossly exaggerated and is without foundation.” He said that the
UNICEF's press statements have seriously eroded the confidence of
the LTTE in UNICEF's genuine commitment to addressing the needs of
the children of the North-East.
Quoting a recent UNICEF statement warning that the children released
in Batticaloa and Amparai be not re-recruited, Mr. Thamilchelvan
said that such statements tended to create confusion in the minds of
the people and also made the LTTE feel that UNICEF has a different
agenda.
Out of the 1187 children on the UNICEF list released on December 02,
2003 for the eight Tamil districts, 474 were from the Batticaloa and
Amparai districts, and these children have already been released. A
further 243 have been identified as children over the age of 18.
Eighty children have been released in Trincomalee, 115 to the
transit camps and another 40 released to the parents directly, Mr.
Thamilchelvan pointed out. “You are aware that a three member
committee was appointed under the auspices of the LTTE Peace
Secretariat and it is the hard work of this committee that resulted
in the release of 80 children in Trincomalee. This committee is
scheduled to investigate the complaints in the North and hopefully
bring an end to this issue.”
The LTTE has urged the UNICEF to review the CAW and make amends for
the damage caused and also to refrain from approaching the issue of
child soldiers in a negative manner.
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