Using DNA matching, the Sri Lanka government has confirmed the identity of the parents of "baby 81," and he has now been returned to his rightful family.
You may remember that a few weeks back in Sri Lanka, there was the heart-wrenching story of a baby who was found in the wake of the Tsunami, separated from his family. He was taken to a hospital for treatment and nine different couples claimed the child as thier own. As any evidence of being their parents was washed out to sea with the receding flood waters, no one was able to prove that the child was indeed theirs.
This caused great tension among the families vying for possesion of the the boy, with some of the couples trying to abduct the child out of the hospital. Tempers flared and altercations arose with police and hospital officials.
With no paper evidence to help determine which couple were the rightful parents of the boy, a Sri Lankan court determined that the only way to verify was by using DNA testing on the child and the couples claiming him. However, only one couple, the Jeyarajahs, submitted themselves to DNA testing, and not surprisingly, the results confirmed they were the child's parents.
"I am so happy, and I only have to thank God for giving my child back," the boy's father was quoted by the Associated Press.
The Jeyarajahs said that the child's name is Abhilash, and that he had been born on the 19th of October, 2004, just a little more than two months before the December 26th Tsuanami. His family says the boy was swept out of his mother's arms by the Tsunami, which also carried away their home and family records which would have proved their claim to the child.
In related news, Reuters is reporting that the fist of the Tsunami survivors from Banda Aceh - one of the areas hit hardest by the Tsunami - have voluntarly started relocating from their makeshift tents into more solid barracks set up for resettlement.
Hundreds of people made homeless by the tsunami were being dropped off by governement and military forces. Their new home consists of seven long barracks built on a river near Banda Aceh, which is the the provincial capital. It is expected that they may live up to two years in such camps until they can be moved into permanent housing.
Reuters also reports that some 400,000 displaced people are scattered around the province in the north of Sumatra island. According to latest government information, the tsunami left 240,000 people dead or missing.
while the barracks are certainly utilitarian and not particularly welcoming, some residents are seing it as a blessing. "Even though conditions are like this, we can at least call it home," claimed a 40-year-old woman going by the single name of Ratnawati. She later broke into tears as she related the story of how she lost not only her husband to the Tsunami, but two of her three children also perished.
Officials claim the camps have been built according to accepted international codes for sanitation, kitchens, places of worship, and other essentials, and the camps are to be managed by the refugees themselves. Officials have stated that 803 barracks would be built by the government before March 15th, which could accommodate 9,730 families. So far, 273 have already been constructed.
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