Colombo (AsiaNews) - There are still 163 thousand Tamil refugees from war, forced to live in refugee camps in northern Sri Lanka. This is what the report of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says, issued during the visit to the island of John Holmes (photo), Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs at the UN Headquarters.

Holmes is conducting a three day survey of refugee camps in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya. He wants to check the condition of refugees, resettlement progress and the work of demining areas formerly occupied by the Tamil Tigers.

Holmes is on his fourth visit to Sri Lanka since the end of the conflict. On 17 November he visited the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Jaffna, noting the appalling conditions and lack of any freedom of movement for refugees still hosted in refugee camps. He also noted that the 60 thousand IDPs returned to their towns of origin continue to suffer similar problems to those suffered in the camps: family breakdown, lack of basic services and aid necessary for the resumption of a normal life.

Today, the UN representative is expected in the area of Vavuniya for other visits. Returning to Colombo, he is planning a meeting with Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama. November 19 he is instead expected to meet with President Mahinda Rajapaksa.  

The Colombo government has guaranteed the full resettlement of refugees by the end of January. Associations of local civil society and international humanitarian organizations denounce frequent delays and accuse Sri Lankan authorities of leaving refugee camps in appalling conditions with the refugees vulnerable to disease and the risks brought by the monsoon season.