A veteran internally displaced person (IDP)

I am a veteran internally displaced person (IDP), if that is a status that I could be given and everybody could be proud of. I am originally from Vavuniya and the conflict many years ago displaced the whole of my village and many adjoining villages. We, as so many others, fled for our lives forgetting all our valuables, given the assurance that we will return within days. I was young and with my parents, we moved to be temporarily located in Kala – Oya, Anuradhapura. It was a massive hall without any partitions and deprived all of us from privacy. Change of clothes was also done in the open or we had to wait till it was quite dark. We lost our modesty as the days passed by. The once conservative families we were took a sharp turn within a few days.

We had no source of income and we were a forgotten entity no sooner the euphoria of the newly displaced title disappeared. Finding jobs in Anuradhapura for us tamils was a tedious task. There was no trust and we were not hired even for unskilled work. The males were forced to go to other districts to find jobs leaving most of the women to fend for their selves. The lack of income forced us women to take upon the oldest profession. The support by non-government organizations at that time was very limited, unlike after the tsunami where there is a lot of support. Children had to be taken care of and the income from the men was not forthcoming, as a result most of us had to sell our bodies along with our dignity. As time went along, the facilities did not improve and many of us fell ill and became victims of contagious diseases. The camp also had a very bad reputation with regard to prostitution.

The village elders decided to change location and that’s how we ended up in Puttlam. We got together, found a location and built the place similar to that of our original village in Vavuniya. Currently we’re residing in an IDP location called Karikattai in Puttlam. Each of our family have been given a plot of 10 perches land, and we’ve built a hut each. I continued my education in the Kurunegala district but was compelled to stop it without continuing further due to economic constraints. Then I had to go abroad to support my family. On my return from the Middle East, I married and had two children. I left to Kuwait once again and returned due to difficulties there and my children needed care since they had to go to school. Now I’m working in a private shop in the local town and taking care of my children’s education through that earning. My parents are living with me and have got older than their age due to the constant worries and hardships.

We all want this war to end and get back to our simple care free lives back in our villages. A generation has passed and is likely that another would. The warring parties do have all the benefits being totally unaware of our innocence and the hardships we go through. We do not need NGO suport or any other form of support. What we are looking for is peace. If the NGOs can give us peace in this country, that’s all we require.

Name: Mrs.Jasmin
Age: 26
Place of origin: Vavuniya