'Mortality figures at welfare centres in the north are within this range which has been acknowledged internationally,' he said.

About 300,000 Tamil civilians displaced by the final battles between the government troops and the Tamil Tiger rebels are being housed in several relief camps in the northern Vavuniya and Jaffna districts, waiting to return to their homes.

Sri Lankan security forces defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May this year after a long drawn war that lasted more than two decades in the island nation.