Land issues

Sri Lanka Tamils protest land grab ahead of Commonwealth meet Kamalesh Sharma (L) and President Rajapakse (R)attending the CommonwealthPeople’s Forum 2013, AFP Photo Agence France-Presse Colombo:  Ethnic Tamils staged a rare protest in northern Sri Lanka on Tuesday against the military’s refusal to hand back land after the war, as Colombo prepared to host this […]

”We want the Government to come forward with a solution or proposal package to settle the festering ethnic problem. Prior to this the Government will have to show some substantial and genuine positive signs by resolving the basic unresolved issues. The following are some of the main issues to be addressed:” Full text of the […]

Mavai S. Senathiraja urges international community to put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to rebuild the devastated areas.— Photo: G. Krishnaswamy Mavai S. Senathiraja urges international community to put pressure on the Sri Lankan Government to rebuild the devastated areas.— Photo: G. Krishnaswamy Kavita Kishore  A Sri Lankan parliamentarian from Jaffna who played a […]

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) yesterday demanded that government immediately investigate what it called land grabs by the security force members in the North and East and to redress the grievances of Tamil people. Moving a motion for the debate at the time of adjournment, TNA leader R. Sampanthan, MP, said that the government, through […]

Chili-pickers near the High Security Zone border in Valikamam North, Sri Lanka (Image by author) Ruth Canagarajah  /Development Channel Staff Emerging Voices features contributions from scholars and practitioners highlighting new research, thinking, and approaches to development challenges. This article is from Ruth Canagarajah, a Fulbright fellow in northern Sri Lanka who is researching the intersection […]

“Resettlement” in Sooripuram The Social ArchitectsIntroduction During the civil war’s final phases, more than 300,000 people were displaced; the majority of those internally displaced persons (IDPs) were eventually relocated to IDP camps – with Menik[1] Farm[2] (Vavuniya) being the largest IDP camp. The conditions in Sri Lanka’s IDP camps were – to say the least […]

Following a writ-application filed at the Sri Lankan Court of Appeal by 1,474 Eezham Tamils owning lands in Valikaamam North on 14 May, which was an initiative taken by Colombo-based lawyers, including those belonging to the Tamil National Alliance, a group of lawyers based in Jaffna have filed legal action in Sri Lankan Supreme Court […]

Sinhala Buddhist extremists, with the backing of the occupying Sri Lankan government in Colombo, have planned to appropriate about six hundred acres of paddy fields belonging to Muslims and Tamils in Pasarich-cheanai in Poththuvil electorate in Ampaa’rai district, claiming that the said lands belong to Sinhala Buddhists.The paddy fields are located east of Naavilaa’ru at […]

The prospect of ‘Gaza’ of the Sri Lankan kind emerging in the Northern territories is beginning to appear increasingly inevitable. The government’s decision to acquire well over 6,000 acres of privately owned land in the Jaffna peninsula has only made it look even more plausible an event in the aftermath of the 30-year-old war.The seriousness […]

1000 uprooted Tamils want their land back, 29th Jaffna ( Vikalpa photo) The government has made moves to acquire over 6381 acres of privately owned land in the Jaffna peninsula, which it says is for a public purpose. The public purpose is presumably for the security forces.  The pasting of notices on trees in Valikamam […]

Landowners Landowners hold a demonstration in front of the Pradeshiya Sabha Tellipalai. Pic by T. Premananth More than 1000 Jaffna landowners are to file petitions in courts against an alleged land grab by the military in Valligamam north that local MPs claim is causing severe concern among civilians. Landowners held a public demonstration last Sunday […]

Fact finding report on the recent tensions between Muslims and Tamils in MulliyawalaiWOMEN’S ACTION NETWORK Muslims and Tamils have returned to the North having experienced immense loss and struggles over the last 30 years. Post-2009 Muslims and Tamils have begun returning to Mullaiteevu and resettlement has been taking place slowly. However the numbers that are […]

 More than 1000 uprooted people gathered yesterday (29) morning in front of the Divisional Secretariat at Thellippazhai, situated near the entrance to the former High Security Zone (HSZ). Despite the refusal by the SL Police to stage any protest march on the Kankasanthurai Road, the people who rallied peacefully from 8:30 to 11:30 in front […]

People’s protest against land grabbing at Valikamam North (photo: TamilNet)  M.A.Sumanthiran M.PLast week saw a hugely dangerous move by the government. Section 2 notices under the Land Acquisition Act were pasted on trees in Valikamam North in the Jaffna Peninsula indicating that an extent of approximately 6,400 acres of private lands belonging to several thousand […]

The occupying Colombo, through its Land Acquisition Officer attached to the District Secretariat in Jaffna, has issued a notice dated 27 April 2013, claiming that the owners of lands for 6,381 acres and 38.91 perches in 11 GS divisions in two DS divisions, Valikaamam North (Thellippazhai) and Valikaamam East (Koappaay), have not been identified and […]

Farmers in Vanni, Sri Lanka ”More needs to be done if peace and reconciliation are to be achieved, including through the full implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which would involve devolving land powers to the Provincial Councils and the establishment of the National Land Commission.” Land Circular: 2013/01 Centre for Policy Alternatives/March […]