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Tamil Members of Parliament raised pressing concerns over the continued occupation of civilian lands in the North-East during a meeting of Sri Lanka’s Ministerial Consultative Committee on Defence, which was chaired by Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Parliament on Tuesday.
The meeting, held on 17 June, saw participation from key defence officials including Deputy Defence Minister Major General (Retd.) Aruna Jayasekera, Defence Secretary Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Sampath Thuyacontha, and commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
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Tamil MPs used the session to call for urgent action on a range of issues, including the release of lands in the Northern and Eastern Provinces that remain under military occupation more than 16 years after the end of the armed conflict.
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Following the discussion, Dissanayake reportedly issued instructions to defence officials, calling for “appropriate steps” to be taken after “due consideration of the justifiable concerns raised”.
Despite repeated pledges from successive governments, large tracts of land in the Tamil homeland remain under the control of the Sri Lankan military.
