Archive for the ‘Human Security’

Ashraf Nagar: The Courageous Struggle of Peasants against the Forcible Land Acquisition in Ampara District

Ashraf Nagar’s inhabitants can trace back their history to 1952 when it consisted of the following small villages – Aalim Nagar, Vilankadu, Kasangkeni, Muthiriyadiwattai, Pallak Kadu, Sinna Pallakkadu, Kattu Vattai, Ali Mudakadu and Aalim Chennai. Ashraf Nagar’s name was changed in the year 2006 to Oluvil first division and even though it consisted of Muslims, Sinhalese and Tamils the majority of inhabitants were Muslims. Around 156 Muslim families are said to have lived there around this period. By 1972 this number had increased to 272 families and to accommodate the growing need, a Jumma Mosque was established in Aalim Chennai. Over several decades the people in Ashraf Nagar have faced obstacles for their development and in creating a life of peace due to the intervention of several state and non -state actors. It is reflective of the plight of many such villages across the country especially with people who lack economic or political power. In 1983 due to ethnic tensions…

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Waking up to migrant employment through Rizana Nafeek

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Image via BBC Much is written on Rizana Nafeek’s extremely unfortunate fate in Saudi Arabia (SA). Some written with anger let loose on the government and some on licensed agencies and every one else who could be dragged in. But to discuss SL migrant labour, one has to leave emotions aside and start off with a factual explanation of what this whole issue is. An extremely deprived, poor Muslim family from Muttur, decided to find some stability to their living by sending their 17 year old eldest daughter for employment in the Middle East. In 2005 the salary would have been around LKR 16,000 (USD 150) per month and that for them would have been substantial. The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) does not approve House Maid (HM) applicants below 30 years for SA. At least in Sri Lanka the only instance when young girls agree to declare their age above the actual age is, when they want…

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Howling

What shall I do, living in Peru, with this report of systemic failure in U.N. monitoring in Sri Lanka, how bureaucrats drove away from the disaster to come, buried hard- earned stats about civilian deaths and allowed themselves to be brow-beaten, harassed, shouted into silence while 40,000 humans died , mostly from battering shells rained from fighter jets? I belong to the family of nations. I have a vote in one democracy, dream of serving humanity, in the Secretariat of the United Nations. of inside influence, reform within, extracting the worm, of keeping a job close to the Secretary General, speaking into his ear, saying fix your flank, Man. Souls are howling. Repost This Article

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Restrictions and intimidation on journalists covering resettlement process in the Vanni

Sri Lanka Media Freedom

From Lines Magazine “The Government should ensure the freedom of movement of media personnel in the North and East, as it would help in the exchange of information contributing to reconciliation” (Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, recommendation 9.115-d) After more than 11 months of the LLRC report being handed over to the President, the above recommendation remains far from reality, despite the National Action Plan to Implement Recommendations of the LLRC reaffirming it by committing to identify and remove impediments to free movement of media personnel in the North and East. A few days ago, I accompanied a crew from a local TV station to the Mullativu district to do a story on the life of the last batches of people who left Menik Farm before its closure in late September 2012. First, our team met the Government Agent for Mullativu, who told us we could go and film the resettlement and relocation areas, and in fact, encouraged us to…

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“Nothing to call our own…” – The plight of the recently returned, resettled and landless IDPs in Sri Lanka’s North

A returnee settlement in Puthumathalan4

Photo by author Recently returned to Puthumathalan “As you drive past pile upon pile of corroding vehicles stacked one above the other, past pots, pans, sarees, slippers and plates (that once belonged to the people here), strewn all over the ground, and past the bullet and shrapnel splattered walls of homes ravaged by the war, on either side of the dusty, gravel roads of Puthukkudiyiruppu (PTK), you cannot help but feel the deep sadness and hopelessness that pervades the air around us.” According to the government, Menik Farm has been closed and all it’s inmates resettled. Having visited some of the most recently resettled, this seems to be the case, except for the fact that many have been relocated and not allowed to their places of origin due to military occupation of their lands[1], whilst others who have been returned to their places of origin, have been left without proper shelter, income or basic infrastructure and resources, to fend for…

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Menik Farm: The tragic end of a bitter saga, from detention to forced relocation

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“Why can’t the Army go to the jungles instead of taking our lands and sending us to jungles?” “When will we be allowed to re-start cultivation of our lands?” “When can we have access to the sea we were fishing before and will we get back the boats and fishing equipment we left behind in our village when we were displaced?” “Why is there a check point at the entrance to this place? “Why are there soldiers and intelligence officers all around us, why can’t we still have the freedom other people in this county have?” “Why are visitors not allowed to come and freely talk to us and take photos?” “Why have we been sent to another camp? What is different here from Menik Farm?” “Why didn’t the authorities clean up the jungles before they sent us here?” “When can we have a Kovil and Church?” These were some of the questions that people who had fallen victim to…

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Putting paid to the Government’s false claims: The new IDPs in Sri Lanka

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Editors note: On the day Menik Farm was officially closed, an urgent memo was circulated widely on the fate of the IDPs from Keppapilavu. The memo adds vital context to the following story, which also needs to be read in light of Government and Ministry of Defence claims that, there are no longer any IDPs in Sri Lanka. that they have all been resettled. that phrases like “Internally displaced people, relief camps & refugee camps” will not be there in Sri Lankan dictionary in future Urgent and disturbing | SOS: Memo from Keappapulavu displaced people cl.ly/2T1y2E0K170W @unocha @7piliers @lankasol #lka #srilanka — Groundviews (@groundviews) September 24, 2012 Also read Relocated to nowhere by the author, appearing in Ceylon Today. ### The war displaced community in Seeniyamottai in the Mullaitivu District have a story that is different to others. Unlike other internally displaced persons (IDPs) living within the confines of Menik Farm, Sri Lanka’s largest internment facility as well as the…

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  • 24 Sep, 2012
  • 6 Comments
  • Human Security,
    IDPs and Refugees,
    Post-War,
    Trincomalee

Update on the struggle to go home in post war Sri Lanka: Manthuvil in the Mullativu district

Temporary shelter of one family-22Sept2012

In relation to the 6 families who were staying at Our Lady of Velankanni church, original article available here. Due to insistence of the families, the Army had agreed to vacate the lands they (Army) had occupied and allow all six families to go back to their own lands. However, around two acres of lands remains occupied by the Army. About one acre belongs to one family, while the rest comprises of about half acre each belonging to two other families. The Army is refusing to hand over these lands. The Assistant Government Agent for Puthukidiyiruppu had promised to provide alternative land, but no places or dates had been given. However, the people insist they want their own land back. All the families mentioned that they have Permits for these lands. The Army had not paid any rent or compensation for the land occupied, with the occupation estimated to be for more than three years. The families estimate that the…

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Sri Lanka’s forgotten mass graves: Google Earth and remembering the dead in Nandikadal

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The end of war in Sri Lanka, captured for posterity by Google Earth published last week by Groundviews was the first look at the end of the war in Sri Lanka through historical satellite imagery freely accessible via Google Earth. The article was an open invitation for those using Google Earth to scan for and alert others over areas and artefacts of interest, that in turn could strengthen discussions around the hellish final weeks of war in Sri Lanka. Given the nature of imagery from around this period and centred on Nandikadal, the article explicitly noted, What Google Maps and Earth does NOT enable one to do, given (1) the quality of some of the historical imagery (which sometimes features extensive cloud cover of vast regions) and (2) the large gaps between the available historical imagery (mid March, late May, after the official end of the war and killing of the LTTE’s leader, then mid-June and early August) is any…

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The struggle to go home in post war Sri Lanka: Manthuvil in the Mullativu district

Discovery of explosives in resettled areas in Puthukudiruppu-14Sept2012

Last Friday, 14th September, I visited friends from Manthuvil and Puthukudiruppu, both in the Mullativu district who are trying to resettle in their own houses. One friend has a lovely house in four acres of land in Manthuvil, along the Puthukudiruppu – Mullativu road. He and I had both heard from separate sources that the area had been demined a long time ago. In fact, there are no signs warning of mines or explosives near his house, as I had seen in many areas in the North. However, the Army continues to deny my friend and his family permission to return to his home. He is desperate and yearns to return after being forced to stay away for many years. My friend says that the Army has persistently refused him and others in the area permission to return, without providing any official reasons for the restriction. In August, as most people around the area began to resettle, including on the…

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Who burnt houses of returning Muslim IDPs in Mannar?

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“We can see how the people are suffering but who are we to tell? Nothing can be done. Who can fight against the Government? The news on the ground is that the Defence Ministry is trying to secure 1500 acres to build a hotel in this area. This is the main reason they don’t want these people to return to their homes. As we all know what the Defence Ministry wants, it usually gets. Who can stop them,” were the words of a rather unusual source – a Police officer, who was stationed at Marichikattu in the Musali Division of the Mannar district, where 7 huts belonging to Muslims were allegedly burnt on the 3rd of September, 2012. It is not clear who was responsible for burning these houses – but several Muslim villagers said they suspect the Navy, and that they could be trying to intimidate the villagers from returning to this area. Click the images above for high…

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The end of war in Sri Lanka, captured for posterity by Google Earth

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When in early 2009, UNOSAT released satellite imagery of what later turned out to be the final weeks of Sri Lanka’s 27-year old war with the LTTE, the images were met with vehement Government condemnation, and counter-analysis by the Ministry of Defence. During this heady, hellish time, the subject of The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lankan & The Last Days of the Tamil Tigers by former UN spokesman Gordon Weiss and the recently released Still Counting the Dead: Survivors of Sri Lanka’s Hidden War by the former BBC correspondent Frances Harrison, while the President assured Sri Lankans and the world that heavy weapons weren’t being used, the satellite images from UNOSAT added to the confusion, showing clear and widespread indications of heavy shelling. The question then became when the shelling occurred. From the report by the UN Panel of Experts, appointed by the UN Secretary General to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report, the trading of allegations…

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The Disappeared in Sri Lanka

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Photo from HRW A speech made today at a Vigil to Remember the Disappeared in Sri Lanka on The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, held from 5-6pm at the State Library of Victoria premises in Melbourne, Australia. I am honoured to have been asked to speak at this Vigil, to Remember the Disappeared in Sri Lanka on this important occasion, of The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Sri Lanka is party to diverse declarations and conventions of the United Nations on human rights. Therefore, the main responsibility of protecting peoples’ rights lies with the government of the day. Today’s vigil calls upon the government of Sri Lanka to release the names of those individuals, who surrendered to the government forces during the last phase of the armed conflict in 2009. This Vigil also demands the government of Sri Lanka to put an end to the practice of enforced disappearances. These disappearances can be categorised…

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Open letter to Mark Davis, presenter of SBS Dateline on ‘Sri Lanka’s New Wave’

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[Editors note: Watch SBS Dateline's Sri Lanka's New Wave, broadcast first in Australia on 28 August 2012, here.] Dear Mark, I am intensely troubled by the tenor of your report on Sri Lankan Tamil refugees on today’s Dateline. The picture you painted of the country doesn’t accord with any of the accounts I’ve heard, nor with well documented reports by international and local sources (eg. the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Diocese of Jaffna, Sri Lanka report). The government’s refusal to implement the findings of its own Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and the reception of the subsequent U.N Resolution alone should tell you something about the triumphalism and arrogance with which the state approaches the process of rebuilding. The program of Sinhalisation and militant Buddhism now underway in Sri Lanka (including recent attacks on a Mosque) were not even mentioned, nor was the corruption within the ruling family and the sense of impunity with which it operates, as…

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The struggle to go home in post war Sri Lanka: The story of Puthukudiruppu

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Rajini (pseudonym) was amongst the ten women we met in a church in Vavuniya district about a week ago. At the time she and two of her children were living in Kadirgama camp in Menik Farm. The women and their families were displaced since 2008 and were prevented from going home to Puthukudiruppu. Some of us had known this community for several years and their yearning was always to go home to their villages despite the uncertainties about the remains of their houses and property. Rajini’s husband was killed on April 17th 2009 during the last phase of the war between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Her eldest son, now 23, was forcibly recruited by the LTTE in 2007. Two years later, at the end of the war, he and other former LTTE combatants were detained by the police and moved to the Boossa detention Centre in the Galle District. Rajini has…

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About Groundviews

Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"

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