TRO is accused of raising funds for the Tamil Tigers

The Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) has also called upon the government to remove all restrictions on transporting humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced People (IDPs).

It says there are nearly 250,000 IDPs belonging to over 61,000 families in the rebel-held Vanni.

UN estimates

Many of the refugees, says the TRO, are willing to move within the rebel-held territory than moving in to the government-controlled areas.

The charity has accused the government of cutting telephone lines to Vanni and suspending telephone services.

	Prof. Wijesinha says there are over 300,000 IDPs in the north

In mid August, the United Nations estimated that at least 145,000 IDPs are in the LTTE-held areas but predicted that the number could rise.

Adequate supplies were reaching the newly displaced but the supply lines were under pressure, a UN statement issued on 14 August said.

The minister in charge of human rights and disaster management meanwhile announced that 16 lorry loads of essential supplies were to be sent Vanni on 02 September.

16 lorry loads

The supplies provided by the World Food Programme [WFP] were to be handed over to Government Agents (GA) in to Mullaittivu and Kilinochchi to distribute among IDPs, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told journalists on 01 September.

A safe passage for those civilians willing to cross to the government-held territory has also being worked out, he announced.

Secretary to the ministry, Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha, told the journalists on 01 September that the government estimates that there are over 300,000 IDPs in the north.

That includes Muslim nationals evicted by the Tamil Tigers, he added.

The TRO is banned in Sri Lanka and the UK. They were accused of raising funds for the LTTE, and its fund raising activities have come under scrutiny in many other countries.

The government and human trights organisations accuse the LTTE of using civilians as a human shield.