President meets family members of missing persons

President Maithripala Sirisena held discussions with family members of missing persons at the Presidential Secretariat yesterday.  

During this meeting, they detailed their issues and demands to the President.

President Sirisena said that he had a clear understanding regarding the issues faced by each community in this country, and said that the Government was committed to provide solutions to those issues in a very open and fair manner. 

The President, expressing his views regarding allegations made about some people being held at Government detention centres, said that there were no such secret detention centres maintained by the present Government and no one was held in custody.       

President Sirisena emphasised that his aim was to provide swift solutions to the issues faced by the family members of those missing.

The President asked for the submission of a new application through district secretaries to obtain complaints of the family members of the missing, to collect their appeals as well as to collect their information. He also instructed to issue a circular to all district secretaries stipulating that the information should be collected before 15 December. 

The President further advised to review the gathered information through the Office of Missing Persons and the Missing Persons Commission.

Officials, including the Secretary to the President Austin Fernando and the Secretary to the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation V. Sivagnanasothy, participated in this meeting.