Government is unrepentant about squalid conditions, saying Tamil Tigers must be weeded out from among civilians

Many of the quarter of a million people held in internment camps in Sri Lanka face up to two years behind razor wire, a government official said today.

Despite international concern over conditions inside the camps, the defence ministry spokesman, Lakshman Hulugalle, said Sri Lanka was not prepared to let the UN dictate terms over the length of time people could be held.

A UN spokesman, Gordon Weiss, said he was "shocked" at the revelation, which ran counter to previous government assurances.

"It was our understanding that the government was to return 80% of the people to their homes by the end of the year, or at least try to," said Weiss.

The UN, Britain and human rights groups have been pressing the government in Colombo to release people from the camps as soon as possible. But Hulugalle said: "The UN can't dictate terms to us. They can always make a request but the UN hasn't asked us to release people. The government has a plan to resettle them. Let these agencies come and join us."

Hulugalle said the government had already resettled almost 200,000 people after the east of the country was liberated from Tamil Tiger control. "We were able to resettle them within nine months. This operation will take a little longer – one and a half to two years," he said.

Some elderly people with close relatives who could look after them had been released, but many others would have to stay behind for up to two years.

Responding to criticism of conditions inside the camps, where detainees have told the Guardian they are short of food, water and medicines, Hulugalle said: "You can't expect five-star hospitality in an area like that. What we are providing are the basics – security, food, health and schools. These are basic. You can't expect an Oxford college."

Hulugalle said the government had turned down an offer of 750 previously used blankets from the Hilton hotel group because people did not want to be treated as second-grade citizens. "They are not beggars," he said.

The government says it needs to hold the civilians until it can establish whether or not they are Tamil Tigers.

The news came as the Red Cross suspended delivery of supplies to displaced civilians after the Sri Lanka blocked access to camps it controls in the country's north.

"There is no access to these camps at this particular moment," said a Red Cross official in Geneva.

A second Sri Lankan official revealed that hardcore rebels were being held and interrogated in a secure unit in the south of the country. The defence ministry has refused to discuss their fate. Thousands of other former fighters are being held in what the government describes as "rehabilitation centres".

Suhada Gamalath, the man in charge of the jails where the majority of Tamil Tigers who surrendered are being held, said about 100 fighters were being held in a prison in Boosse, in the south of the country. He said they would eventually be brought to trial and could face up to 20 years' jail if convicted of murder.

Gamalath said between 2,000 and 3,000 former Tamil Tigers were imprisoned, with up to 60 more arriving every day. Most had given themselves up, he said. The total included about 250 below the age of 18, he said, with some as young as 14.

Save the Children claims that at least a quarter of pregnant and breastfeeding women in the internment camps are acutely malnourished.

Another government minister disputed the military's assessment of the timescale for rehabilitation, but admitted the task posed particular problems. The disaster management and human rights minister, Mahinda Samarasinghe, claimed that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had infiltrated the camps and there was a danger that some of those being held were potential suicide bombers.

Samarasinghe said the area where the civilians once lived had been heavily mined by the LTTE and would take time to clear. He insisted the government was committed to getting the lives of its citizens back to normal at the earliest possible opportunity and that they would be consulted throughout the process. But he said it was likely to take longer than the year it took to resettle civilians displaced by fighting in the east.

Samarasinghe also criticised some of the efforts of the UN agencies involved, claiming that tents supplied to house detainees were inadequate and unable to stand up to rain, and that toilets supplied by Unicef were not good enough.

"As much as they tell us to maintain international standards, it is incumbent on us as a government that if there are shortcomings on their part we tell them," he said.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, is due to arrive in Sri Lanka on Friday to press the government to work towards reconciliation after 26 years of war and to allow humanitarian groups access to the camps.

The UN said Ban had met the Sri Lankan health minister in Geneva to press for access to the former battlefields. He said in a statement that the situation in Sri Lanka was of "grave and growing concern" and said more care needed to be provided for

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those affected by the conflict.