By Niranjala Ariyawansha and Chrishanthi Christopher-Sunday, December 16, 2012
article.wn.com
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is once again raising the fact that eventhough three years and seven months has passed since the war was‘officially’ ended; still in the Northern Province alone, there arehundreds and thousands of people striving to live off the lands they once ownedand stand up from their misery.TNA MP, M.A. Sumanthiran said 84,000 people from the Jaffna Peninsula and 6,000 people from Sampur in Trincomalee are still living internallydisplaced without being able to go back to their hereditary estates. Hefurther said that apart from these people, there are about 150,000 Sr iLankans who are still living in refugee camps in India, who, althoughwilling to come back to Sri Lanka, are refusing to ‘resettle’ in bare lands where even the most basic needs cannot be fulfilled.
But the government is continuously announcing there are no ‘Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs) in Sri Lanka. Last October the government announced that they shut down the last IDP camp in the North and East, and Tamil civilians were safely resettled. But within weeks the real story of this ‘resettlement’ started to be revealed to the media.
One of the most vital facts the Sri Lankan Government had to prove to the international community at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) summit in Geneva last month was that the government was successful in completing the resettlement process according to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations. Hence, the quickest route for the government to get away from this IDP camp menace was to resettle the 6,000 innocent civilians who lived in the Manik Farm IDP camp, in a dense forest land at Seeniyamotai.
Manik Farm and the international community
MP Sumanthiran alleges that the government, in order to please the international community, closed down the Manik Farm IDP camp and dropped the 6,000 refugees who lived there in a jungle at Seeniyamotai.
“And now these people weep while looking at their hereditary lands which are less than one kilometre away. Now what they have is just barren land. These people have suffered immensely both physically and mentally, by the war.
Does resettling them mean dumping them on empty lands?” Sumanthiran questioned. Explaining further, he said, “According to the government’s definition, there are no refugee camps in the North. But in Jaffna there are many transit camps and welfare camps, which are being maintained by the government since 1996. Thousands of people, whom I mentioned earlier, are still living in those camps.” TNA MP, Suresh Premachandran, also confirmed that the government, byredefining the term ‘refugee’ in order to dilute the effect of the refugee camps, is now playing the same old game by changing the titles of the camps.
“Government says that the resettlement process is now over. But that is atotal lie. In Jaffna alone there are 11 welfare camps, which are 26-years-old. About one hundred thousand people are still living in these camps.The government maintains these. But they do not utter it in public. Many people who were ‘resettled’ are living with their relatives and friends. They cannot just live in barren lands,” Premachandran said. MPs of the TNA said many lands belong to people in Jaffna and Trincomalee. GS divisions have been illegally apprehended by persons who have connections with either the government or the Army. “There are 24 GS divisions in Jaffna. But people are not allowed to resettle in those areas. It is the Army that owns the peoples’ lands now. It’s the same in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. Thousands of people have been displaced and there is no way for them to make their living,” Premachandran said.
“And now these people weep while looking at their hereditary lands which are less than one kilometre away. Now what they have is just barren land. These people have suffered immensely both physically and mentally, by the war.
Does resettling them mean dumping them on empty lands?” Sumanthiran questioned. Explaining further, he said, “According to the government’s definition, there are no refugee camps in the North. But in Jaffna there are many transit camps and welfare camps, which are being maintained by the government since 1996. Thousands of people, whom I mentioned earlier, are still living in those camps.” TNA MP, Suresh Premachandran, also confirmed that the government, byredefining the term ‘refugee’ in order to dilute the effect of the refugee camps, is now playing the same old game by changing the titles of the camps.
“Government says that the resettlement process is now over. But that is atotal lie. In Jaffna alone there are 11 welfare camps, which are 26-years-old. About one hundred thousand people are still living in these camps.The government maintains these. But they do not utter it in public. Many people who were ‘resettled’ are living with their relatives and friends. They cannot just live in barren lands,” Premachandran said. MPs of the TNA said many lands belong to people in Jaffna and Trincomalee. GS divisions have been illegally apprehended by persons who have connections with either the government or the Army. “There are 24 GS divisions in Jaffna. But people are not allowed to resettle in those areas. It is the Army that owns the peoples’ lands now. It’s the same in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. Thousands of people have been displaced and there is no way for them to make their living,” Premachandran said.
Accuracy of statistics
At Parawpaachchan village in Kilinochchi, once there was a LTTE political office. Therefore civilians were not permitted to go there. But instead of an LTTE camp, there is an Army camp, and again people have to live off their village. And also there were about 100 fishing and farming families living in the Mullikulam village in Mannar. But now the Army has occupied all their lands. And they have been ordered to go somewhere else. But the villagers say that the place they have been given does not have any resources to carry on their traditional way of living.
Sumanthiran said that although the government statistics depict that about 200,000 people have been resettled in their traditional areas, there is a huge problem about the accuracy of these statistics. “Actually, these statistics are drafted by the government, not by us. Therefore, we cannot entirely trust this. No one has been able to draw accurate statistics from anywhere. Although there is a ministry for resettlements, according to our knowledge, all the resettlements are being done by the armed forces,” Sumanthiran said.
However, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya, the Media Spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Army, refutes these allegations. “TNA thinks that it is we who are doing the resettlements. That is done by the GA and AGAs of the relevant areas. The only place where we intervene is when these officials ask for our assistance in the process,” Brigadier Wanigasuriya said. Meanwhile, in 2003 Sumanthiran had filed a court case on behalf of the ownership of land of the 84,000 families who were evicted from their lands in the Palali Air Force Base in 1996. According to the Court Order, some of those families ware able to return to their lands from time to time.
But still there are 28,270 families still displaced without being able to return to their own lands.
Sumanthiran said that although the government statistics depict that about 200,000 people have been resettled in their traditional areas, there is a huge problem about the accuracy of these statistics. “Actually, these statistics are drafted by the government, not by us. Therefore, we cannot entirely trust this. No one has been able to draw accurate statistics from anywhere. Although there is a ministry for resettlements, according to our knowledge, all the resettlements are being done by the armed forces,” Sumanthiran said.
However, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya, the Media Spokesperson of the Sri Lanka Army, refutes these allegations. “TNA thinks that it is we who are doing the resettlements. That is done by the GA and AGAs of the relevant areas. The only place where we intervene is when these officials ask for our assistance in the process,” Brigadier Wanigasuriya said. Meanwhile, in 2003 Sumanthiran had filed a court case on behalf of the ownership of land of the 84,000 families who were evicted from their lands in the Palali Air Force Base in 1996. According to the Court Order, some of those families ware able to return to their lands from time to time.
But still there are 28,270 families still displaced without being able to return to their own lands.
Statistics regarding original settlers
Commenting on this, Sumanthiran said, “The statistics which the government presents regarding the amount of the original settlers in the Palali Camp premises is true because they had to hand it over to the Court. There the government told the Court that they were going to establish amilitary base on these lands. How can the government seize thousands of acres of private land like this? And at that time the government said that they were going to spend thirty-three million rupees for these people who were displaced. Why should the government spend such a lot of money? If the people were allowed to return to their lands, then the government could have saved the thirty-three million rupees.”
He further said, “Since January this year, the Army had put up a barbed wire fence in the camp premises. When we inquired about it from the Attorney General, he told us that he was not aware of it. Therefore, we showed the photographs of it. This is one of the most fertile lands in the North. Now the Army has started cultivating it. If the Army can cultivate these lands, why can’t the civilians do the same? The land mine story is just a bluff. It is like this. The Army is grabbing the lands of the people in other places in the North-East as well.” Meanwhile, Hassan Ali of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) said some people among the many of those who left their homes during the war and took refuge in areas like Puttalam, Colombo, Anuradhapura and Panadura, have recently returned back to their original homes. But he says that it is utterly difficult for them to start a new life on these devastated lands.
The government is still announcing that the War is now over. But at this very moment 150,000 soldiers have been deployed in the North-East. People question about the necessity of such a force if the war is really ‘over.’ 150,000 troops mean there will be one soldier for every three civilians in the North. Even though the TNA is raising their voice against this, why does this ‘holy’ government provide such a security to protect the Tamils, a privilege even the Sinhalese do not enjoy?
A Geology Professor in the Jaffna University gives a fine answer for all these actions. “From the beginning of the war till the end of resettlement, it is only a fraud which is going on.
Every morning, when the innocent Tamil civilian in the North wakes up, what he sees is a gun or an armed soldier. People will never have reconciliation with the Army like this. The government may be able to seize the lands, which belong to the innocent people in the North by using their military might, but they will never be able to seize our hearts in that way.”
He further said, “Since January this year, the Army had put up a barbed wire fence in the camp premises. When we inquired about it from the Attorney General, he told us that he was not aware of it. Therefore, we showed the photographs of it. This is one of the most fertile lands in the North. Now the Army has started cultivating it. If the Army can cultivate these lands, why can’t the civilians do the same? The land mine story is just a bluff. It is like this. The Army is grabbing the lands of the people in other places in the North-East as well.” Meanwhile, Hassan Ali of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) said some people among the many of those who left their homes during the war and took refuge in areas like Puttalam, Colombo, Anuradhapura and Panadura, have recently returned back to their original homes. But he says that it is utterly difficult for them to start a new life on these devastated lands.
The government is still announcing that the War is now over. But at this very moment 150,000 soldiers have been deployed in the North-East. People question about the necessity of such a force if the war is really ‘over.’ 150,000 troops mean there will be one soldier for every three civilians in the North. Even though the TNA is raising their voice against this, why does this ‘holy’ government provide such a security to protect the Tamils, a privilege even the Sinhalese do not enjoy?
A Geology Professor in the Jaffna University gives a fine answer for all these actions. “From the beginning of the war till the end of resettlement, it is only a fraud which is going on.
Every morning, when the innocent Tamil civilian in the North wakes up, what he sees is a gun or an armed soldier. People will never have reconciliation with the Army like this. The government may be able to seize the lands, which belong to the innocent people in the North by using their military might, but they will never be able to seize our hearts in that way.”
