Sri Lankan War: ‘Thousands of Missing Tamils are Dead, Actually,’ says Gotabaya Rajapaksa!

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said that thousands of persons reported missing since the time of Sri Lanka’s civil war are “actually dead,” reports The Hindu.

This remark from the President came in a recent meeting with the UN Resident Coordinator, as per a statement from his office. Explaining further as to what he is going to do about the missing persons, Rajapaksa said, “These missing persons are actually dead. Most of them had been taken by the LTTE or forcibly conscripted. The families of the missing attest to it. However, they do not know what has become of them and so claim them to be missing,” the statement read.

It is being learnt that after the “necessary investigations”, steps would be taken to issue death certificates of the missing persons, while their families would be supported, according to an official press release.

Families of thousands of ‘missing’ persons in Sri Lanka’s war-affected north and east have been demanding the whereabouts of their relatives, including those who saw their near and dear ones surrendering to the Army. Family members are refusing to accept their kith and kin’s disappearance as ‘death’ and demand to see the bodies. Some have taken legal recourse.