COLOMBO: Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed relevant government departments to expedite the drafting of legislation necessary for the implementation of the Action Plan for Reconciliation that seeks to address the thorny issue of ethnic reconciliation of Tamilians in the island nation.

Sri Lanka has endured a three-decade conflict including a protracted and brutal armed conflict, between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the country’s armed forces.

On May 18, 2009, the separatist campaign led by the LTTE to establish a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern province of the island nation came to an end with the killing of the LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran by the Sri Lankan Army. In 2015, the Sri Lankan government renewed its commitment to reconciliation and thereafter embarked on several initiatives for national reconciliation.

The Action Plan for Reconciliation was part of the government’s need for a comprehensive national policy to resolve these prickly issues. During a meeting on

Thursday, President Wickremesinghe sought the progress of initiatives in five key areas, namely legislation, institutional activities, land issues, prisoner release, and power decentralisation, which were also reviewed, the President’s media division said in a media release.

The implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the establishment of a National Land Council, and the formulation of a National Land Policy were among the matters that were also discussed. Additionally, the President emphasised the need for enhanced operations of the Office of Missing Persons, including digitisation efforts and the issuance of Certificates of Absence for individuals who had previously disappeared without a trace, the press release said.

Furthermore, President Wickremesinghe also instructed the relevant parties to complete the ongoing initiatives to establish the Office of Reparations and the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation within the next two to three months, it said.

A comprehensive report on the progress of these programmes was also requested, it added.

Sri Lanka has endured a three-decade conflict including a protracted armed conflict with the LTTE