Amnesty International makes fresh call to free Sri Lanka displaced

The London-based rights watchdog said their "unlock the Camps" call was being issued at the start of their international council meeting in Turkey and urged the Sri Lankan government to give freedom of movement to camp detainees.

Some 300,000 men, women and children displaced during the final stages of the war between security forces and Tamil Tiger rebels continue to be held inside what the government calls "welfare villages."

"With no independent monitors able to freely visit the camps, many people are unprotected and at risk from enforced disappearances, abductions, arbitrary arrest and sexual violence," Amnesty said.

It noted that the inmates of the camps were not allowed to talk freely to aid workers or the occasional visitor, allowed by the military under strict supervision.

Except for medical emergencies, the Sri Lankan government does not allow people to travel outside the camps as the military insists that it wants to weed out suspected rebel fighters.