Germany says war victims’ parents need answers

---

(Srilankamirror) – Germany has welcomed the reference to Sri Lanka in the annual report by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on children in armed conflict.

However, the Germans have said parents of children who either died or are “missing” due to the conflict need to be given answers as to what happened to their children.

German Ambassador in Sri Lanka Jens Plötner has congratulated Sri Lanka after the UN report stated that Sri Lanka had successfully completed the UN Security Council mandated programmes to end the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.

“This is an achievement that removes a painful stain in the country’s collective conscience. I personally visited the Hindu College in Ratmalana in 2010, where a group of children, who were formerly attached to the LTTE, were being rehabilitated,” the German Embassy quoted the Ambassador as saying.

The Ambassador has said he was impressed by the dedication of the teachers and the army, who were wholeheartedly helping the children to restart a normal life.

However the Ambassador has also said that the process of providing psycho-social support to these children still continues.

“And in this moment, our thoughts also go out to the parents of all the children who died or are “missing” due to the conflict. We owe them answers to what happened to their children,” he has added.