Tamils who still search for their missing relatives 15 years after the end of the war have refused to meet president Ranil Wickremesinghe as he toured the north on a two-day visit.
“We are not prepared to talk to Sri Lankan rulers who lay the groundwork for us to face painful problems every day,” said Yogarasa Kanagaranjani.
The head of the association of missing persons in the north and the east said so in Kilinochchi on 23 May.
The president was expected there to distribute 1,700 freehold deeds as he looked into development work in the two provinces.
However, Tamil MPs M.A. Sumanthiran and Dharmalingam Siddharthan attended the president’s meeting.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Clinical Training and Research Block at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, TNA lawmaker M.A. Sumanthiran said that president Ranil Wickremesinghe has exhibited an unwavering commitment to the progress of not only the North but also the East, dating back to his tenure as Prime Minister.
"It is possible that challenges in the North may have impeded your journey in 2005, a fact that I believe is now regretfully acknowledged by the people of the region," the TNA MP added.
