COLOMBO, May 28, 2009 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- People over 60 years of age and the disabled among the internally displaced Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka's conflict are to be allowed to rejoin their relatives, the government said on Thursday.
Minister of Resettlement Rishath Bathiyutheen told reporters that they will be allowed to leave camps along with their relatives after a process of proper establishment of identities.
However, he did not mention the number of such people -- aged 60 and above and those who are disabled -- among the over 260,000 displaced from the northern Mannar, Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi districts.
The government troops last week concluded its three-year-old military campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ( LTTE) rebels by eliminating the rebels.
The displaced civilians are now housed in welfare camps in Jaffna and Vavuniya districts.
Bathiyutheen also said that the work to resettle some 33,000 people who are being temporarily accommodated at public buildings such as schools has begun.
"We have allocated 100 acres to build over 8,000 shelters for these people," Bathiyutheen said.
The government has announced a 180-day program to resettle the people in their places of origin.
But analysts said the completion of the program is expected to last three years.
The large number of displaced has caused much international attention on the island.