What Happened to the 29 Children Handed Over to the Military During the Final Phase of the War?

The international community must not remain silent regarding the fate of 29 children who were handed over to the Sri Lankan military by their parents during the final stages of the civil war, said Leelavathi Anantha Nadarajah, General Secretary of the Association for the Relatives of the Enforced Disappeared in the North and East.

She made this statement while commenting on the recent discovery of children’s body parts at the Chemmani Sittuparthi cremation grounds in Ariyalai, Jaffna.

According to her, during the final days of the war, parents who surrendered at four different military camps also handed over their children to the army. Among those surrendered were 29 children. Since then, there has been no information about their fate.

The late Rev. Father Francis Joseph had earlier informed the international community that over 16,000 individuals surrendered alive during the final days of the war.

It is deeply distressing and disappointing that both local and international child rights organizations remain silent on the issue of these children who surrendered with their parents during the war.

While international humanitarian organizations strongly oppose the impact of war on children in places like Gaza, they have failed to give the same level of attention to the surrendered children of Eelam. (Hela)

Now that global attention has turned to the Chemmani mass grave, there are strong suspicions that the remains recovered from that site may belong to some of the 29 children who were handed over to the military.

There is also documented evidence that the relatives who surrendered to the military were transported in buses from Omanthai through Kilinochchi.

In this context, it is imperative that the truth behind what happened to these 29 children—who were handed over alive to the military—be thoroughly investigated and brought to light.