VAVUNIYA: Sri Lanka said Saturday it would grant free movement to the remaining war-displaced civilians held in internment camps, meeting a key demand of the international community.

The government also reiterated it would complete the resettlement of civilians by the end of January. “We will allow complete freedom of movement,” senior presidential adviser Basil Rajapakse told inmates of the Manik Farm complex, the main facility housing displaced civilians.

The United Nations welcomed the announcement that camp inmates will be able to come and go freely from Dec. 1, saying it was in line with a pledge Sri Lanka gave to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The announcement came amid intense international pressure on Colombo to release tens of thousands of civilians held in the camps since security forces crushed Tamil Tiger rebels in May.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes visited the area earlier this week and pressed authorities to grant free movement to the camp inmates. The government’s announcement was a “pleasing” development, the UN representative in Colombo, Gordon Weiss, told AFP. “This is in keeping with the assurances given to the secretary-general,” he said. “It is a pleasing sign of progress and we look forward to its full implementation.”