IOM has launched a USAID-funded pilot project in the eastern
district of Batticaloa to help reintegrate demobilized former LTTE
Tamil Tiger rebels into civilian life.

The Information, Counselling and Referral Services (ICRS)
project aims to reintegrate up to 1,000 former members of the Tamil
Makkal Viduthalai Pulikel (TMVP), an armed Tamil group led by Col.
Karuna Amman, which split from the LTTE in 2007.

"Reintegrating former combatants into society, retraining them
and helping them to find jobs and generate income is not easy, but
is an essential first step towards stabilization, peace and
economic recovery," says IOM Sri Lanka Chief of Mission Mohammed
Abdiker.

P., a former LTTE and TMVP cadre who joined over 100 other
former combatants to register for the programme and to attend an
initial interview with IOM last week, agrees that he needs a job
and income to support his family, but is not convinced that he can
restart his life in Batticaloa.

"There are no jobs here and it's not safe. People here don't see
us as civilians and are suspicious. If anything happens, they point
to us. If I had LKR 10,000 ($84), an agent could to get me a job in
Libya or Korea or Europe for three or four years. I would be safe
and make money. My wife agrees," he says.

IOM programme coordinator Tatjana Cerovino is sympathetic, but
says that while wanting to leave is a common reaction for former
combatants in similar IOM programmes around the world, it is not a
viable solution for the tens of thousands on both sides who will
need to return to civilian life when peace returns to Sri
Lanka.      

"These men have been referred to the programme by the Ministry
of Defence, which has guaranteed their security. Our job is to
provide them with the information and counselling that they need to
make informed decisions about their future. Based on their
preferences, we can refer them to other agencies for training, or
to employers. If they meet the right criteria, we can also arrange
a small grant to help them set up their own business and generate
income," she says.    

The Batticaloa project follows another pilot reintegration
project implemented by IOM at the request of the government in
2003. The RECLAIM programme successfully helped some 600 former
combatants return to civilian life.

IOM has implemented post-conflict disarmament, demobilization
and reintegration programmes that, over the past 20 years, have
helped over 300,000 former combatants and 1.5 million of their
dependents in 25 countries to return to normal civilian lives.

Sri Lanka has been an IOM member state since 1990 and IOM has
had a major presence in the country, including six sub-offices in
the north and east, since the December 2004 tsunami.  In
addition to the reintegration of former combatants, IOM Sri Lanka's
activities include emergency response and reconstruction, technical
cooperation in migration management, capacity building, counter
trafficking, and return and reintegration.

For more information please contact:

Aurela Rincon

IOM Sri Lanka

Tel. +94 11 5325 392 (Ext. 379)

E-mail: "mailto:arincon@iom.int">arincon@iom.int

Passanna Gunasekera

Tel. +94 11 5325 300 (Ext. 341)

E-mail: "mailto:pgunasekera@iom.int">pgunasekera@iom.int

or

Chris Lom

Tel. +94 772300952 (mobile)

E-mail: "mailto:clom@iom.int">clom@iom.int