Grievances of Muslims in the North
“It is not only inhumane to be expected to live under such terrible conditions, but these conditions are also a breeding ground for mosquitoes and the spread of other communicable diseases. If…
IDPs and Refugees
The Significance of Revolving Funds in the Rehabilitation of those Re-settled
Image courtesy World Bank Most those who have been resettled or re-located in the Wanni District of Sri Lanka after the war have found that they have to start life from scratch. …
Sri Lanka Navy vs. the people of Mullikulam
“The Cardinal never even visited our church or spoke to our children. He came directly to the Navy Head Quarters for the meeting and left soon after. On my way to the…
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…
“Nothing to call our own…” – The plight of the recently returned, resettled and landless IDPs in Sri Lanka’s North
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…
Menik Farm: The tragic end of a bitter saga, from detention to forced relocation
These were some of the questions that people who had fallen victim to the Sri Lankan Government’s latest resettlement program asked us when we visited them last Sunday 30th September 2012. The…
Putting paid to the Government’s false claims: The new IDPs in Sri Lanka
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…
Update on the struggle to go home in post war Sri Lanka: Manthuvil in the Mullativu district
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…
Sri Lanka’s forgotten mass graves: Google Earth and remembering the dead in Nandikadal
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…
The struggle to go home in post war Sri Lanka: Manthuvil in the Mullativu district
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…
Who burnt houses of returning Muslim IDPs in Mannar?
“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…
The end of war in Sri Lanka, captured for posterity by Google Earth
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…
Open letter to Mark Davis, presenter of SBS Dateline on ‘Sri Lanka’s New Wave’
[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…
The struggle to go home in post war Sri Lanka: The story of Puthukudiruppu
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…
Swimming against the tide: Australia’s new asylum-seeker package
Photo courtesy Sydney Morning Herald Though launched with much fanfare and media acclaim, Australia’s new raft of proposals embodied in the Houston package to handle the surge in asylum-seekers is simply treading…
