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S Lanka displaced 'free to move' S Lanka displaced 'free to move'
(about 3 hours later)
Sri Lankan authorities say they have opened up the huge refugee camps in the north of the country. Sri Lankan authorities say they have opened up huge camps holding people detained since the army's victory over Tamil Tiger rebels earlier this year.
This will allow, for the first time, increased freedom of movement to the displaced Tamils who have been forcibly kept there since earlier this year. The general is charge of Menik Farm, the biggest camp, told the BBC people were free to leave - after giving their details so they could be monitored.
The government says the camp-dwellers will now be free to leave after giving their details to the authorities. The closed, military-run camps house more than 130,000 people.
But with northern Sri Lanka devastated and mined, some of the displaced will want to stay on in the camps for now. Sri Lanka has drawn strong international criticism for holding people there against their will.
The gates of the biggest camp, Menik Farm, have been opened, Maj Gen Kamal Gunaratne, the officer-in-charge, told the BBC by telephone. They were set up for people fleeing the war zone during the government's final offensive against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
He said he expected a huge rush of people wanting to leave, but things were going very smoothly and the mood was good. Tracked down
Before going out, families and individuals were filling in two copies of a form, leaving one with the authorities so movements could be monitored, he said. The government announced 10 days ago that the camps would be opened up.
Gen Gunaratne said people leaving on Tuesday do have to return and that anyone trying to leave permanently would be "tracked down". Maj Gen Kamal Gunaratne, who runs the Menik Farm camp, told the BBC that he expected a huge rush of people wanting to leave, but things were going smoothly and the mood was good.
Sudden exodus? Gen Gunaratne said people leaving on Tuesday had to return and that anyone trying to leave permanently would be "tracked down".
Many people doing aid work in these camps have felt ambivalent about giving assistance. Many people doing aid work in these camps have felt ambivalent about giving assistance, says the BBC Charles Haviland in Colombo. Some see them as "open prisons".
Some see them as "open prisons" because the people living there have had no free choice about staying inside.
The government says that is all changing. It says there will not be limits on how long they can stay away.The government says that is all changing. It says there will not be limits on how long they can stay away.
But top officials have told the BBC that those still registered as living there do not have anywhere else to go and live and will not be allowed to "go missing". Our correspondent says that with northern Sri Lanka devastated and mined, some of the displaced will want to stay on in the camps for now.
The number of those living in the camps has halved However those who want to escape will not find it easy to do so, owing to heavy security presence in the region, our correspondent adds.
People living in the nearest town, Vavuniya, say they do not expect any sudden outflow. The government, which faces elections in January, has in the past month stepped up the formal process of returning people to the villages and the numbers living in the camps have halved.
Others who have been miserable there will want to escape completely, but with a heavy security presence in the region that will not be easy. The government says all the camps will be shut down by the end of January 2010.
The government, which faces elections in January, has in the past month stepped up the formal process of returning people to the villages; the numbers living in the camps have halved.
The authorities have been screening them all for possible links to the Tamil Tigers.
The government says all the camps will be shut down by the end of January.