( Muslim IDPs in Puttalam – Al Jazeera)
On the 30th of October 1990 the entire Muslim population of close to
75,000 people living in the North were evicted by the LTTE. It is now 25
years since the Muslim community fled the North fearing for their lives
and leaving behind their homes, livelihoods and histories. Compelled to
leave without most of their belongings, they were allowed to take only
500 rupees and no jewellery. As the country attempts to move towards
reconciliation and a political solution, the Friday Forum calls for
reflection about this tragic eviction. This is not merely about
condemning the LTTE’s ruthless dispossession of an entire community.
Rather, it serves as a crucial reminder of the deep divisions within our
society that need to be recognised and addressed. Injustice against any
community requires all of us to reflect and together find solutions.
Despite the war having ended over six years ago, in places like Jaffna
the Muslims are in limbo, and their resettlement has for the most part
been a failure. Of the close to 8,000 families that originate from
Jaffna Town over 2,000 families registered for resettlement soon after
the end of the war. However, only about six hundred families now remain
in Jaffna, and that amidst tremendous social and economic problems. The
loss of their original land and houses, most of which were destroyed,
has complicated the resettlement of the Muslim community, and many are
on the verge of giving up on their resettlement and returning to the
camps in Puttalam.
Some 80,000 Muslim IDPs seek a return
to Sri Lanka’s northern provinces
to Sri Lanka’s northern provinces
There still seems to be little acknowledgement of their economic and
infrastructure needs. They lack housing, land, jobs and even decent
schooling for their children. When resettlement fails and families move
between Puttalam and their places of return in Jaffna, the children’s
education is a major casualty. In the Muslim quarter of Jaffna town,
where a section of Muslims still live in camp-like conditions, problems
of water, drainage and flooding during the monsoon rains add to their
travails.
For both the Jaffna Muslims and the Northern Muslim community as a
whole, what is needed first and foremost is a credible and immediate
resettlement policy. This is a right for all those displaced during the
war. Unfortunately, for the Northern Muslim community, when it comes to
forging a resettlement process, they have for the most part been
abandoned by the State and by the Muslim and Tamil political parties.
The Northern Muslim community needs resources, but with the process of
return it also has to rebuild relations with neighbouring communities.
Rebuilding Tamil-Muslim relations is a priority to ensure successful
resettlement as well as for future coexistence. The Tamil community in
the North, in particular, should reflect on the suffering endured by the
Northern Muslims and extend their support to the Muslim community.
Moreover, as the Government prepares to initiate the long overdue
process of reconciliation and a political solution, it needs to realise
that such processes are inextricably linked to rebuilding relations
between communities. The Friday Forum believes that addressing the
problems of the Northern Muslim community is an essential and urgent
part of working towards meaningful reconciliation throughout our
country.
– Friday Forum press release
