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The first batch of 2,400 Tamils lodged in camps for Internally Displaced Persons in Sri Lanka were sent back home on Thursday as assured by the Sri Lankan government, said Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Member of Parliament T R Baalu, who led a team of Tamil Nadu MPs to the island nation.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse had assured the 10-member MPs' delegation that 58,000 of the 2.53 lakh internally displaced Tamils would be sent home in the next fortnight starting on Thursday, Baalu said in a release.
He said the 2,400 Sri Lankan Tamils were sent to their native places in buses and given essential items and Rs 5,000 each to meet their immediate requirements.
The team comprising MPs from DMK and its allies Congress and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi returned on Wednesday after a five-day tour of Sri Lanka to gain first hand knowledge of the condition of the displaced Tamils housed in the camps.
In its report submitted to Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, the delegation said that the camps lacked even basic amenities like sanitation and water.