Voluntary, Safe and Sustainable Return: Support Needed for Sri Lankan Refugees
“O our motherland, bid us a farewell We buried our smiles in our lips We buried our life in our bodies We are making a procession like empty skeletons….” This was the…
IDPs and Refugees
World Refugees Day and refugees from and to Sri Lanka
Photograph courtesy 20th June is World Refugee Day. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced globally. I have heard that close to one…
Imbalance of Power: Examining the struggle for land in Mullikulam and Keppapulavu
Last July, Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said Sri Lanka was planning to demilitarise by 2018. The cautious optimism that followed this news died away when the military contradicted Samaraweera’s speech, with Jaffna…
To Rebuild A Home
Over the last few months, there have been several protests across the Northern Province demanding the release of civilian land from under military occupation. While there have been no definitive responses to…
Voices from Musali: The real story behind the ‘Save Wilpattu’ Campaign
The adhan call resonates. The residents of Marichchukkaddi in Musali stop speaking and bow their heads in prayer. For five minutes, peace prevails. The only sound is that from the green banners…
The Struggles of the Muslims of Musali
The Gazette Notification issued on the 24th of March 2017 declared four forest areas North of the Wilpattu sanctuary as reserves, preventing Muslim Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from returning to their homes in…
Disconnected: Juxtaposing the UNHRC sessions with protests in the North
At 7:30 am in Mullikulam on March 23, a group of villagers decided to begin a protest, demanding for the return of their land. The residents of Mullikulam have been living ‘as…
Military Occupation: documenting civilian protests and the struggle of the newly resettled
Editor’s Note: This is an immersive photo story written by them, compiled using Microsoft Sway. Click here to access it directly, or scroll below.
Sellamma returns home after Army occupation
We first met 83 year old grandmother Sellamma when she was part of a protest fast outside the Puthukudiyiruppu Divisional Secretariat. At that time, her land and house across the road had…
On Keppapulavu
February 9 marks the tenth day of protests in Keppapulavu, a village in Mullaitivu, where residents are demanding the return of their land. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is meeting with representatives…
Sirisena’s double standard: the heavy cost to Muslim IDPs
President Maithripala Sirisena says that the Muslim IDPs have encroached and destroyed land belonging to the Wilpattu National Park (June 2015). President Sirisena says Muslims have not cleared one inch of Wilpattu…
Refugee Jesus: Christmas & Refugees in Sri Lanka
Photo by Jessica Sallabank, from IRIN Jesus was born as a refugee child. When Mary, the pregnant mother on the move couldn’t find a place to give birth, it was poor shepherds…
Muttur Siege: Reflecting 10 years on
Ten years is a significant milestone: a decade; a generation. A lot can happen in ten years and a lot has. Ten years ago, the smartphone was still a concept that was being…
Sampur in the Spotlight after Indian RTI Request
Featured image courtesy TamilGuardian The Sampur power plant project has come under further scrutiny, following a project synopsis released by the Public Information Officer of NTPC Ltd, India’s largest energy conglomerate. Among other…
SAMPUR: Documentary trailer
Thousands of individuals from across Sri Lanka have been displaced for years, some multiple times. For over a decade, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (the institutional home of ) has documented issues…