Timing couldn’t be worse-Villagers cry foul over “forced relocation” in North


By Namini Wijedasa

Acontroversy is brewing in the North and the timing couldn’t have been worse. Just weeks before Sri Lanka’s human rights record is taken up for review at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), Tamil parties have informed the international community that the government is forcibly relocating displaced persons. 
In two widely circulated letters, former MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam is urging foreign governments to stop Sri Lanka from resettling the people of Keppapulavu “against their wishes.” The story has now been picked up by multiple websites and news organizations. 

Controversy
The government announced on September 19 that Menik Farm would be closed down in six days. The last remaining families were moved out on Monday. One batch was returned to their original homesteads. However, around 110 families from the village of Keppapulavu in the Mullaitivu district were relocated to an area called Seeniamoddai East.
Menik Farm is now closed. But what should have been an admirable achievement for the government has been marred by accusations that nobody from Keppapulavu wanted to leave – unless it was to their own lands. Their village, however, is occupied by the military. 
Ponnambalam accuses the government of having rushed to dismantle Menik Farm in time for the HRC sessions in November. “I am sure you would agree with me that the people can’t be used as pawns by the government to attain its short term diplomatic goals,” he says in one letter. 
The UN welcomed the closing down of Menik Farm but expressed concern for the last remaining displaced persons. Subinay Nandy, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sri Lanka, stressed that a solution urgently needs to be found for the people who are unable to return to their homes. 
“The UN is concerned about 346 people (110 families) who are returning from Menik Farm to Keppapulavu (sic) in the Mullaitivu District, who are unable to return to their homes which are occupied by the military,” he says in a statement. “Instead, they are being relocated to state land where they await formal confirmation about what is happening to their land in the future, and plans for compensation if they cannot return.”
“The Government is looking for solutions but it is important that the displaced people should be able to make an informed and voluntary decision about their future including being part of the planning and management of their resettlement,” Nandy says. 
Meanwhile, the latest Joint Humanitarian and Early Recovery Update compiled by NGOs and the UN states that there were several resettlement movements from Menik Farm and host families to their areas of origin during September. “There was also a voluntary relocation movement of 214 IDPs (55 families) originally from Keppapulavu village of Maritimepattu Divisional Secretariat Division (DSD) to Sooripuram village,” it states. “This relocation was completed by the Government of Sri Lanka, without assistance from the international agencies.” This group appears to hold a contrary view to the Keppapulavu villagers who are now resisting relocation. 

Original lands occupied
Menik Farm was set up in May 2009 for thousands of people fleeing the battles in the Wanni. At its peak, it housed 225,000 people in 700 hectares of land, the UN statement said. International organizations had been providing basic services such as shelter, food, water and sanitation, schools and primary health care along with other services.
Ponnambalam claims that the suspension of services was used as a tool to force people out. “When the inmates had resisted again, the military had made it clear that all the assistance that had been provided to them will be withdrawn,” he states. “Thereafter the buildings that housed the Menik Farm administration were dismantled along with the fences, etc.”
Inmates were forced to pack their belongings. The following day, everyone was reportedly transported to schools in Vattrapolai. On Tuesday morning, the villagers of Keppapulavu were informed that they will not be able to return to their homesteads – and that alternate land had been identified “for the time being” in a place called Seeniamoddai East. 
“When the villagers had strongly resisted to being settled in any place other than Keppapulavu, the military had ordered that the lorries containing all the belongings be driven to the new site and unloaded,” Ponnambalam writes. “As the lorries contained all the belongings these villagers owned, they feared that if they didn’t follow the lorries to the new site, their belonging would be lost for good, hence they reluctantly moved to the new settlement in Seeniamoddai East.”
Ponnambalam says the new settlement has “jungle on three sides with the military occupying the fourth side that links the settlement to the rest of the world.” There is no water or basic infrastructure, he says: “The people have been merely dumped in a jungle clearing and are expected to manage.”
Authoritative sources quoting government statistics said a total 1,212 acres of private land is occupied by the military in Keppapulavu. This includes 528 acres of residential land and 684 acres of agricultural land. It is learnt that 278 people and their families own the residential land and that documentation is available. 
These sources also said the land was not acquired through established procedures. If this had been done, the affected persons could have challenged the acquisition and filed for compensation. At present, the displaced people have not been told anything regarding compensation. 

Govt. outlines process

Sri Lanka’s human rights record will come up for examination before the UN Human Rights Council in November. This is part of the HRC’s unique Universal Period Review system under which countries submit themselves to evaluation by their peers. The country document prepared by the government in view of this process has this to say about the resettlement of the displaced: 
—“The GoSL intends to complete the resettlement process by this year. While every effort is being made to resettle persons in their original habitat, in instances in which this is not possible, they will be given alternate land. This process would have been executed much faster if not for the extensive mining of the area by the LTTE approximating to 5,000sq km. While 116sq km of territory remains to be demined, the demining of remaining land to facilitate the return of IDPs will be completed by the end of 2012. The demining has been done mainly by the Sri Lankan Army with international collaboration including certification of demined areas by the UN.”
—“The resettlement process has been voluntary, involving informed choice of the displaced family/person through facilitation of “go and see visits” prior to resettlement. Assistance for construction of housing and livelihood development is also being provided.”
—“The former High Security Zones (HSZs) have ceased to exist. The Palaly Cantonment is now the only area in which some security restrictions remain, but even within the Cantonment, civilians have unrestricted access to the airport and the Kankesanthurai harbour. While it is true that there are still some civilian properties included in the Cantonment, it must be stressed that civilians have not occupied these properties for the last 20 to 25 years. The Government has taken measures to pay compensation to the owners of these properties and to provide alternate land to them. It should also be noted that lands that had been forcefully taken from the people and occupied by the LTTE for many years have also been released to their legal owners. The former HSZ in the Eastern Province located in the Sampur area from 2007 has been reduced in extent by 65% and declared a Development Zone under the Board of Investment. The IDPs from this area who are to be resettled will be granted alternative land or compensation.”