Sri Lanka: Civilians displaced by conflict facing severe humanitarian crisis

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^{31 December 2008}

Hundreds of thousands of people remained displaced in Sri Lanka during 2008. In the north and east, their displacement was caused by intense fighting between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which began in 2006 after four years of a ceasefire situation described as “no war and no peace”. In 2008, the government formally ended the ceasefire and since then has pursued a military solution. Most of those displaced from 2006 onwards have been from the Tamil and Muslim minority groups. There is also a significant population remaining displaced from the period before 2002.

In the west of the island, Muslim IDPs in Puttalam remained in displacement after being forced out of the north and north-west by the LTTE in 1990. Few attempts had been made to find durable solutions for them, and in the meantime they faced poverty and diffi cult living conditions.

In 2008, the sphere of combat shifted to the north and several thousands of people became newly displaced in the Vanni region which was then under the control of the LTTE. The LTTE was forcing them to remain. Their vulnerability in the face of a mounting offensive increased in September, when the government ordered all humanitarian agencies except the ICRC and Caritas to leave the Vanni.

From September, IDPs in the Vanni were desperately short of food. Convoys up to December were only able to provide 40 per cent of the minimum requirement of the affected population. Tens of thousands of people were living without adequate shelter, health facilities in the Vanni were stretched to the limit and IDPs were facing acute shortages of essential medicines. Sanitation facilities remained very poor, leading to concerns over possible outbreaks of waterborne disease.

People who had managed to flee to government-controlled areas still faced great risks to their life and liberty. As of October 2008, the government continued to hold over 800 people who had fled the LTTE areas in enclosed camps, suspecting some of them to be LTTE collaborators.

IDPs in all parts of Sri Lanka were facing major challenges in recovering the property they had left, as more than 80 per cent of the territory is owned by the state, and private ownership can only be established of land which has been occupied continuously for ten years. The government has also designated areas as High Security Zones, leading many IDPs to lose their farms and fishing areas, and so their livelihoods.

An end to the conflict could lead to new displacements ending and returns being possible. However, durable solutions for returnees depend not only on the security situation improving but also better livelihoods opportunities emerging. Even after the armed conflict ends essential reconstruction would need to precede return or local integration. This would probably depend on investment by the international community. The long-term IDPs may have a better chance of durable local integration than return.

The effectiveness of the government’s response has been limited by organisational difficulties. The Ministry of Disaster Management and Human Rights is the nominated focal point, but the overlapping mandates and responsibilities of ministries and agencies have led to delays, poor coordination and duplication of activities.

Legislators were drafting a national IDP law at the end of 2008, but greater political will was still needed to uphold the rights of IDPs. The IDP Protection Unit of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka had spoken out to promote IDPs’ rights, for example on forced returns, but the prevailing political environment had limited the impact of this advocacy.

Over the past years, UN agencies have taken the lead in providing protection and assistance, and while they have been successful in maintaining their role in areas outside of the northern conflict zone, they have not been able to promote the access of all other national and international protection agencies. National members of staff of national and international organisations have also faced intimidation. The coordination between agencies has generally been effective, but the response will continue to fall short as long as the government limits access to IDPs and returnees in various parts of the country.

3 July 2009: Puttalam IDPs consider return to north after 19 years

Following the end to armed conflict in Sri Lanka in May, a large group of Muslims forcibly ejected from the north by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) are finally contemplating a return home. These displaced people have been living in IDP camps and settlements in the area of Puttalam in the north-west of the country since 1990. Many among the over 70,000 Muslims living in the Puttalam region are happy about the fall of the LTTE but uncertain about returning to the northern province. While older people are more enthusiastic at the prospect of returning and rebuilding their lives in areas of origin, the move does not appeal to the younger generation who have not experienced life outside the camps.

According to Sri Lanka’s relief and rehabilitation minister, many houses in the north which once belonged to the Muslims have been completely destroyed and some of the returnees will even find it difficult to locate their ancestral lands. The government will help the returnees to obtain necessary documents and also assist those who have decided not to return.

The protracted armed conflict in Sri Lanka between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) appeared to be nearing an end in 2009 with the LTTE cornered in a small area of the northern Vanni region. However, there remained almost half a million internally displaced people (IDPs) in the country.

In 2008, the scene of conflict had shifted to the Vanni where an estimated 230,000 civilians were displaced by intense fighting. Most of the civilians in the Vanni were prevented from leaving by the LTTE which forced them to remain in the active conflict zone. Many civilians were displaced a number of times as the LTTE lost ground to government forces and they became squeezed in a rapidly shrinking conflict zone. As of April 2009, the UN estimated that approximately 50,000 displaced people were trapped in the Vanni. Civilians were facing serious violations of international humanitarian law by both parties to the conflict and a severe humanitarian crisis with only the ICRC able to gain access to them through a sea route. (...)

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^{1 May 2009}