Menik Farm closes down while IDPs appear unhappy

over resettlement

By Sanath Priyantha-Sunday 23 September 2012 The government closed down the last two refugee camps in the North – the Kadirgamar camp and the Ananda Coomaraswamy camp, respectively, on  September 24. In effect these two camps were not merely shut down but were removed altogether. The two refugee camps were situated at Menik Farm in Chettikulam, in the Vavuniya district. A few years ago Menik Farm was virtually unheard of as the North-East war raged. But in the aftermath of the setting up of IDP camps or refugee camps there, Menik Farm that housed the most number of IDPs started to come under the microscope. In fact Menik Farm became internationally known as an IDP camp in Sri Lanka. The final stages of the war resulted in around 300,000 IDPs who were transferred to camps in Vavuniya and detained there against their will. This process, together with the conditions inside the camps and the slow progress of resettlement since 2009 drew much concern and criticism from within and without the country. On May 7, 2009 the Sri Lankan government announced plans to resettle 80% of the IDPs by the end of 2009. On December 1, 2009 the camps were opened giving the IDPs limited freedom. The IDPs would have to return to camps within 15 days or report to the police regularly. On December 29, 2009 the government stated that there was no deadline for the resettlement of the IDPs. The pace of resettlement increased in 2010 and by July 2011, most of the IDPs had been released or returned to their places of origin, with 7,500 still living in the camps. The people awaiting resettlement were almost entirely (98%) from areas in Mullativu which is heavily laid with landmines. IRIN reported on September 21, 2012 that government officials had stated that the Menik Farm IDP camp would be closed by September 30, 2012. Most of the IDPs had arrived at Menik Farm during the waning days of the war in 2009 and that number has continued to escalate during the three years since the end of the humanitarian operations back in May 2009. Since the end of hostilities the government has been stretched to the maximum to maintain Menik Farm given the growing number of refugees as even LTTE cadres who had surrendered to the government security forces were housed there initially. To cater to a such a large number of refugees the security forces were forced to put up 18 temporary hospitals, 33 children’s schools, 13 banks and 16 post offices. There were 320 kitchens that were set up. The number of temporary toilets built had been 8109. While these facilities were provided, the government had to also contend with international pressure concerning the IDPs. There were several high-profile international figures who toured the Menik Farm camp, and most prominent among them was UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon. They were all determined to bring pressure on the government to relocate the refugees from the IDP camps, especially those housed at Menik Farm, and speed up efforts to bring about reconciliation in the North-East. The resettlement process started on August 5, 2009 and by May 2012 the government had only another 6000 or so IDPs to be resettled. Wanni Security Forces Commander Major Boniface Perera, airing his views in this connection told this newspaper that it was a huge triumph for both the government and the security forces to have been able to resettle the displaced people so swiftly and in a detailed manner to the satisfaction of all communities in the North-East. “Henceforth there will be no IDP camps in the country as we have totally resettled them from last week,” said Major Perera. Some of the refugees who spoke to this correspondent in Vavuniya also commended the efforts of the government to complete the resettlement process within three years since the end of the war and said they are glad to have left the life spent in IDP camps and be able to live in new surroundings for the rest of their lives. But many refugees blamed the government for destroying their properties and the lives of relatives in the war. They are also unhappy that they have been resettled in different villages. They demand that the government resettles them in their original villages.