Families of Tamil civilians in Northern Sri Lanka who surrendered their relatives to the government army at the end of the civil war say they are still being pressured to obtain death certificates for missing family members instead of receiving information about their fate.
The issue was highlighted during a protest in Mullaitivu marking the 9th anniversary of continuous demonstrations started in 2017 by relatives of forcibly disappeared persons. A young woman named Sandurjana said her father was handed over to the Sri Lankan army by her mother in 2009, but the family has never been told what happened to him. Despite this, authorities recently sent a letter asking them to obtain a death certificate, which the family refuses to do until they are told the truth.
Families of the disappeared say they have no trust in the government’s Office on Missing Persons (OMP), claiming it failed to investigate cases or provide answers. They also allege that new security laws could be used to suppress their protests.
Relatives of the disappeared, many of them Tamil mothers, continue protests demanding international intervention and justice, stating they will keep asking what happened to their loved ones even for future generations. Reports say at least 400 protesting parents have died without receiving justice since demonstrations began.