Relocated to nowhere

Removed from Sri Lanka’s onetime largest facility for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the Menik Farm, on Monday (24) and relocated to Seeniyamottai in the Mullaitivu District, these 346 IDPs have little hope of resettling in their place of origin. Dilrukshi Handunnetti visited the displaced community in Seeniyamottai, collectively demanding the restitution of their homes, lands and their right to expeditious resettlement in the places of their origin

In one’s own country, it is possible to become the inquisitive intruder, if information is sought on crucial matters of policy and practice that the authorities may consider ‘unnecessary for journalists.’ Rabble-rousing can be in public interest, but not if power is centralized and the unwritten rule is to withhold information. In Sri Lanka, that being the rule, unearthing information in the interest of Sri Lanka’s war-displaced can prove daunting. Here is the evidence.

What is going on in a little-known place named Seeniyamottai in the Mullativu District is a well-guarded secret, with different agencies offering different interpretations. Often, the answer is to declare that they are not authorized to speak to journalists, unless papers are processed through the one powerful agency, Ministry of Defence, permitting officials to speak.

While an expeditious resettlement programme is said to be this government’s badge of post-war honour, read on to find out the holes in a resettlement programme that is said to be ‘coherent, co-ordinated and inclusive,’ according to Minister of Resettlement, Gunaratne Weerakoon, and all others involved.

In Seeniyamottai, there are over 400 families relocated following the closure of Sri Lanka’s largest internment camp, Menik Farm. Given that the road conditions were bad and to avoid undue attention, from Mankulam, it was a jerky three-wheeler ride on a bumpy and muddy road for over three hours. We set off around 9:30 a.m., only to reach the ‘IDP village’ around 12:30 p.m.

Hush-hush operation                                                        Read more

Posted by Thavam