The US has announced USD 8 million assistance for the Tamil displaced persons in the North, but said the IDPs "need to be out of the welfare camps" soon and return to Wanni following the defeat of LTTE.
"The importance of prompt return (of IDPS) from the camps and we really stressed that is going to be a key objective and (Sri Lankan) government officials said it is but I think it is an issue that we need to keep pushing on", Eric Schwartz, Assistant Secretary, Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration of the US State Department, said.
"The United States would very much like to support the process of recovery and development in Sri Lanka in general and the North in particular", he said.
"That is precisely why we made the announcement of an 8 million dollar contribution to promote return (of the IDPS) but also to promote early recovery in places to its people are returning home", the visiting US official said.
"I came to (Sri Lanka) to get a sense of the efforts of the government and to look for opportunities for continued support of this process and in particular support for return in conditions of safety and dignity for a sum of about 3 lakh displaced persons who are now in camps", Schwartz said.
{{/usCountry}}"I came to (Sri Lanka) to get a sense of the efforts of the government and to look for opportunities for continued support of this process and in particular support for return in conditions of safety and dignity for a sum of about 3 lakh displaced persons who are now in camps", Schwartz said.
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