Lanka says disappearances may be linked to human smuggling

Sri Lankan police are probing links of a human smuggling operation which may be linked to high number of disappearances of people.
Police spokesman and Superintendent Ajith Rohana said that the arrest of an individual in the former LTTE stronghold of Mullaithivu had led to suspicions.
"On April 5, a 37-year-old man was arrested. He had been involved in human smuggling through the sea route and believed to have sent over 500 people," Rohana said.
Rohana said the investigations are being conducted to ascertain whether those he had sent include people who are currently believed to be missing.
Sri Lankan authorities allege that the figures of disappearances have been bloated by certain groups to implicate the country for human rights abuses.

Among those who have disappeared are economic migrants who went missing in human smuggling rackets.

Sri Lanka last year appointed a commission to probe disappearances of individuals from the former war zones in the north and east.
It was one of the recommendations in the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission whose implementation figured in the latest UN Human Rights Council session.
The panel said they have so far received over 16,000 complaints of disappearances including of government troops and LTTE cadres.