Amid claims by the Sri Lankan government that all displaced persons in Mannaar district have been resettled in their own villages, uprooted residents of Mu’l’likku’lam in Musali DS division of the district, who were evicted from their homes in 2007, are still refused entry to their village by the Sri Lanka Navy, which has changed their village into a military cantonment.
The uprooted Tamils of Mu’l’likku’lam agitated on Tuesday demanding resettlement. More than 300 families of uprooted villagers, most of whom are fishermen and daily wage earners, have been living without proper housing and their children have been deprived of schooling, said Rev. Fr. Rasanayagam, the parish priest of the area.
The uprooted civilians from Mu’l’likku’lam staged a protest Tuesday and marched from St.Sebestian Church to District Secretariat of Mannaar.
The representatives of the uprooted residents of Mu’l’likku’lam submitted a memorandum to the Government Agent of Mannaar N. Vethanayagam. The memorandum was addressed to SL President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The Sri Lanka Navy, which has been occupying the village after its capture by the Sri Lanka Army, first allowed the villagers to visit their houses and to undertake prayers at their temples, occasionally.
However, even such access has been denied now as the SLN was stepping up its deployment in the area with new military cantonment.
Mu’l’ikku’lam has become a strategic point of occupation to the Sri Lankan forces that aim to Sinhalicise and colonise the land and the historic waters of Eezham Tamils.
More than 4,500 civilians were forced to flee Musali division in Mannnaar district in September 2007.