The protracted armed conflict in Sri Lanka between government forces and the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended in May 2009. The final intense stages of combat were conducted predominantly in the northern LTTE-controlled Vanni region.
Between October 2008 and June 2009,
more than 280,000 people fled to government-controlled territory, and as of October 2009, the vast majority of these internally displaced persons (IDPs) remained in closed military-run internment
camps in the districts of Vavuniya, Mannar, Jaffna and Trincomalee. The government justified this internment by the need to demine IDPs’ areas of origin and screen displaced civilians
to identify LTTE combatants. Some elderly or vulnerable people were initially allowed to leave, but although many IDPs had relatives in the region who they could stay with, only in October did
unconditional releases and returns start for significant numbers.
Conditions in the camps, many of which were set up for the short-term, are poor with severe overcrowding. The worst
situation has been at Menik Farm camp which in June 2009 was holding 220,000 IDPs. The restrictions on freedom of movement have led to protection problems for the displaced and tensions with security
forces. Humanitarian access to IDPs in the closed camps has remained limited and the procedures for entry have been ill-defined. The government had pledged to release between 70 and 80 per cent of the
people in the camps by the end of 2009, but there is general agreement among the international community that although the pace of release and returns has increased recently, the target remains
unrealistic given the extent of de-mining and reconstruction needed in return areas. Furthermore, as observed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the failure to rapidly resettle IDPs could result in
growing bitterness among the Tamil community and undermine the prospects of rehabilitation.
There are also thousands of IDPs in Jaffna in the north and Trincomalee in the east who have been
displaced since before 2008, as their areas of origin were designated as “High Security Zonesâ€. Given the military victory over the LTTE, it is unclear why these
zones remain in place. People also remain displaced in the east due to the occupation of their homes or land by the army and police.
Over 60,000 Muslim IDPs displaced by the LTTE from the
north and north-west have been living in the town of Puttalam since 1990. With the end to conflict, the older generation of IDPs is keen to return but the newer generation, which has not known life
outside the camps and the region, is uncertain about this option. Any eventual return would pose significant problems due to secondary occupation of homes and other housing, land and property
issues.
A boy sells cotton candy in front of hundreds of men who were fleeing a military offensive in South Waziristan, as they wait for handouts at a distribution point for internally ...
