Another batch of rehabilitated LTTE cadres released

 The Government yesterday ceremoniously reintegrated another batch of 78 rehabilitated former Tamil Tiger rebels to the society.

At a ceremony held at the Batticaloa Municipal Council Hall in the Eastern Province, Deputy Minister of Resettlement Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan and Rehabilitation and Prison Reforms Minister Chandrasiri Gajadeera handed over the rehabilitated former LTTE cadres to their parents.

A variety show was also organized to display the talents of the rehabilitated cadres.  Deputy Minister for Women and Child Welfare M.L.A.M. Hizbullah, government officials and the parents of the released former LTTE cadres participated in the occasion.

The ex-LTTE cadres, who have successfully completed their rehabilitation program carried out under the guidance of the eastern rehabilitation coordination office, have received vocational training in several sectors to assist them to start self-employment.  During and immediately after the final phase of the war 11,700 LTTE cadres have surrendered to the government security forces or arrested by the security forces.

Another 750 ex- LTTE cadres are currently being rehabilitated and over 800 more cadres will be rehabilitate on the orders of courts, according to the Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Major General Chandana Wanaguru.

The government says it has spent Rs. 2.5 billion on the rehabilitation of ex-LTTE cadres since the conflict ended in May 2009.