Over 600 children in South destitute
in Tsunami aftermath - Survey

 


Many children lost their parents in the disaster.
 
Over 600 children in the Southern Province are rendered destitute by the Tsunami. They have lost one or both parents, according to a report based on a survey carried out in Welfare Centres of the South.
The Hambantota district has been worse hit by the Tsunami rendering 397 children destitute including the 46 children who lost their parents in the December 26, disaster. Thirty three children in Galle and 21 in Matara were also lost their parents in the disaster.
A total of 816 children in the Southern Province, in the Galle, Matara and Hambantota districts, are languishing in relief camps. Of them 360 have lost their mothers and 312 their fathers or guardians in the catastrophe. In Hambantota District, the worst hit district by the Tsunami, 175 children had lost their mothers and 172 their fathers.
           In addition there were four children who had one parent working abroad at the time of the disaster. In Matara District which was the second worst hit, 257 children are in welfare camps. Of them 103 children have lost their mothers and another 103 their fathers. There are 30 children in Matara with one of the dependents abroad.
 
 
 
  There are 162 Tsunami affected children in relief camps for displaced in Galle District and 82 of them have lost their mothers and 37 their fathers. There were ten children who had one parent working abroad.
All the children in the welfare camps are below the age of eighteen, according to the NCPA co-ordinator to the CNO.
The report does not include statistics of affected children outside the welfare camps.