Sri Lanka lets Tamils leave detention camps

The Sri Lankan government has allowed over 120,000 Tamil civilians to leave the state-run detention camps and return to their homes.

The Tamils, who had been restricted to the camps since the government's victory over separatist Tamil Tiger fighters earlier in the year, were given authorization to leave the facilities on Tuesday, officials said.

"There will be no restrictions on displaced people from December 1," said N. Thirugnanasampanther, a government civil servant, quoted by the AFP. He noted that many people had already left.

"They have to inform the army post they are leaving and can come and go as they wish. Transport out of the camps is a problem, but people seem to be very happy,” he said.

The Tamils have been held in the heavily-guarded camps in the Vavuniya district, 260km north of Colombo, since the government defeated the Tamil Tigers in May, ending the island's long-running civil war.

About 128,000 men, women and children displaced by the conflict are thought to be in the camps. Although the gates have been opened, the journey back home remains a hazardous task with the threat of mines lurking at every corner.

According to Thirugnanasampanther, however, a government effort is underway to clear the former combat zone of more than a million land mines planted during the war, and to rebuild the ruined infrastructure.

Nearly half of the country's 280,000 displaced civilians that were trapped in the refugee camps were released back in November.

Since the end of the three-decade-long conflict, the camps were under tight security, and civilians were forced to be screened before they were released.

The government says it is concerned that the Tamil Tiger rebels might be hiding among the refugees.

The government has promised to resettle all the refugees by January 2010.