The government has made remarkable progress in resettling the people displaced by the was between government forces and the terrorist group LTTE, the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe said today.

Addressing a media briefing in Colombo today at the Presidential Secretariat, Minister Samarasinghe said the number of Internally Displaced Persons has been reduced from 288,000 to 196,088.

The IDPs have been resettled in their original homes in a secure environment with all the assistance given to restore their livelihood, the Minister said. However, the IDPs have been given a choice of a location to resettle and they are not forced to choose the location, the Minister added.

The resettlement was due to the successful de-mining process, said the Minister adding that the government has purchased 24 demining machines and 1,000 trained soldiers are assisting the demining operations. In coming weeks more IDPs will be resettled as the de-mining process continues the Minister told the reporters.