Sri Lankan government removes obstacles for remarriage of war-widows

COLOMBO - The Sri Lankan government said Wednesday that many young widows, particularly those of soldiers who died in the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels, will be able to re-marry with the passage of a bill aimed at removing obstacles to this.

Hitherto, the widows of soldiers were unable to re-marry as they would lose the pensions entitled to them under the Widows’ and Orphans’ Fund. However, the passage of the Widows’and Orphans’ Pension Fund Amendment Bill would remove this obstacle, the government information department said in a statement, Xinhua reported.

According to the old act, spouses and children under 26 years old of the public officials are entitled to a monthly payment equivalent to the pension drawn by the deceased or 50 percent of the salary, but they would lose their pensions entitled to them if the spouses remarried.

Under the new act passed Tuesday, widows of public servants and members of the armed service would receive half of their husband’s pension even if they married again, and the children of the first marriage would also get a portion of the pension.

“Many young girls who were married to security forces personnel attained widowhood following the death of their husbands in the operations launched to quell terrorism,” said the statement.

The Sri Lankan government said 23,790 military personnel were killed since 1981 in the island’s civil war, with 6,261 of them being killed in the last stage of the war from 2006 to 2009.