The Sri Lankan military forces have failed to release Tamil land in Mullaitivu despite moving their army camp out of Puthukkudiyiruppu, with Tamil families in the area continuing to suffer from displacement.
The displaced families asked, “it has been several months since the camp moved, why hasn’t our land been returned to us?"
Tamil families resettled in Puthukkudiyiruppu in 2009, when the army seized 19 acres of land for the construction of the 682nd Brigade army camp.
Forty-nine families began protesting in March 2017, after a month of protests the state promised to release their land in three phases. The Sri Lankan military forces released 7.75 acres in the first phase and failed to release the rest even after the camp was relocated.
Additionally, the state had already failed to meet the established deadline to release the remaining land belonging to the Ponnambalam hospital in Mullaitivu.
Families in Puthukkudiyiruppu have been fighting for four years and are asking the Sri Lankan army to release their land as soon as possible because their livelihoods are in jeopardy.
Tamil land in the North-East is constantly expropriated for the needs of the state, with an increase in incidents of Tamil residents facing intimidation and displacement under the Rajapaksa administration.
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