NEPAL: Blast victims seek government compensation

By UNION OF CATHOLIC ASIAN NEWS

KATHMANDU (UCAN) – Family members of those killed and injured in the Assumption Church bomb blast are still hoping for compensation promised by the government, which has been delayed.

Newly elected Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, during a visit to the church immediately after the blast, had promised compensation as soon as he had finalized his Cabinet.

That was delayed by political infighting and now, despite a Cabinet in place, the government is suggesting the victims could face more delays.

Home Ministry spokesperson Nabin Ghimire told UCA News on June 30 that “we are currently formulating a new set of norms regarding compensation in such cases and we will be able to look into all such cases only after the norms are finalized.”

SRI LANKA: Conflict over, but Tamil civilians languish in camps

Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)

By ANTHONY DAVID

Colombo (dpa) - Thirteen-year-old Sopika Surendranathan was injured in a December mortar attack during the conflict in northern Sri Lanka but remains in a camp meant for tens of thousands of displaced people.

A lawyer retained on behalf of her family argued successfully before the Supreme Court last week for a medical examination of the girl because she was not getting the required medical attention in the camp.

Sopika’s case is rare, however. Most of the 270,000 people displaced in the final months of the conflict, which ended in May with the government’s defeat of the Tamil separatist rebels, lack the access to lawyers and the money to go to court to fight for their rights. Instead, they go through the rough conditions in the government-run camps.