TMVP hands over 15 children

(January 22, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka Guardian) A breakaway group of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) handed over 15 child combatants to the United Nations on Thursday in Batticaloa. The Tamil Makkal viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) says only 25 more children are currently in their ranks.

The Sri Lanka government, TMVP and UNICEF signed an action plan to end child recruitment and to release children in TMVP ranks in December, last year.

The children were handed over to the Child Welfare Unit opened in Batticaloa under the agreement.

UNICEF chief of mission in Sri Lanka, Phillippe Duomelle, Secretary to ministry of Justice Suhada Gamlath and TMVP provincial councillor Edwin Silva Krishnananthan (Pradeep Master) attended the ceremony.

In an earlier statement, UNICEF said there were 133 children still in TMVP ranks.

However, Pradeep Master told BBC Sinhala service that UNICEF figures might be based on old data.

He insisted that only 25 youngsters under the age of 18 left in their ranks.

The TMVP that runs the eastern provincial council and many local councils contested the regional elections together with President Mahinda Rajapaksa's ruling coalition.

TMVP was formed by Vinayagamurthy Muralitharan (Karuna) after breaking away from the LTTE in 2004. He was later appointed as an MP by the ruling coalition.

Courtesy: BBC-Sinhala - Sri Lanka Guardian