Displaced Muslims face problems to find land in Jaffna for resettlement

By Franklin R.Satyapalan

There was no planned programme to re-settle the 22,000 Muslim families forcibly evicted from the Northern Province by the LTTE in October 1990, said UPFA Jaffna Municipal Councilor B. A. S. Moulavi Sufiyan, Founder President of Northern Muslim Rights Organisation.

Almost 80 per cent of the 22,000 Muslim families had been displaced from the North.

They had returned to their original areas their to re-register themselves while many had returned to places where they were living in the South. The Government had closed the displaced Muslim Secretariat in Puttalam last April, 2011, reliable sources said on Wednesday.

Though the work was progressing fast, following President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s instructions to provide sufficient funds from the Budget for 2012 to develop infrastructure facilities such as roads, access to roads, water, electricity, public utilities in areas surrounding New Moor street in Jaffna, the biggest obstacle faced by the Muslims in resettling, was land and housing.

Another problem was the 15,000 or more Muslim families who were displaced from Jaffna, Killinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya districts. They settled themselves temporarily in Colombo, Kalutara, Panadura, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Kurunegala and Puttalam in 1990 and have now grown in numbers in those areas.

The solitary house and the plot of land they owned earlier could not accommodate six to seven families. The available land in the Jaffna district, especially in the town area is limited.

Of the 7,500 families, who had to be resettled in Jaffna, only 450 families are physically present in Jaffna at present. Out of 2,500 registered families, 2,000 had gone back to their former places in the south and continuing in whatever livelihood they were engaged in.

The other 5,000 families too are eager to go back to Jaffna but the lack of land, permanent housing, and livelihood compel them to postpone their return.

All Muslim families displaced from Vavuniya, Killinochchi, Mullaitivu and Mannar had been resettled except for 90 families from Nachikuda and Vatakadchi in Killinochchi.

Three hundred families from Mullaitivu and one hundred families from Mannar too have to be still resetlled.

Some of the Muslim families are now willing to reside in Mullaitivu, Killinochchi and Mannar even without sufficient land or permanent housing as they were engaged in agriculture and fishing.

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