Sri Lanka Government Begins Paying Compensations For Easter Sunday Terror Victims

The families of 103 victims killed in the Easter Sunday bombings on April 21 have received Rs 47 million in compensations to date, Sri Lanka’s Secretary of the National Policies, Economic Affairs, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, Northern Province Development and Youth Affairs Ministry, V. Sivagnanasothy said.

The ministry’s Office for Reparations rushed through compensations for death victims based on reports from Divisional Secretaries, Judicial Medical Officers and Coroners, Sivagnanasothy said. What the families of the deceased victims have received is a partial payment, not the full compensation payment, which is Rs 1 million in total, Sivagnanasothy said.

The Office for Reparations expects to pay out full compensation claims after it has received relevant death certificates of the victims.

Most families of deceased victims have yet to furnish death certificates for the persons declared killed in the bombings, Sivagnanasothy said. The ministry has received 266 cases claiming death compensations and 407 cases claiming compensations for injuries.

Sivagnanasothy said those who suffered injuries will be paid up to Rs500,000 depending on the nature, the disability based on a medical certificate issued by a government medical offers, and also on loss of income suffered due to injuries.