The Sri Lankan army planted coconut trees in Northern Jaffna on occupied Tamil land, residents are raising concerns, whether the land will be returned to its owners.
According to a statement released by the Vali North Resettlement Society, “soldiers are cutting down coconut trees on private property [then] preparing the same land to plant new coconut trees, they are trying to permanently seize the land.”
Tamil residents who lived in the area were displaced for 31 years in friends and families homes. The association highlighted that, “not an inch of land in the north has been liberated since this government came to power” adding, “people are longing to go home.”
They called on all parties to work together to resolve the resettlement crisis as 3500 acres of land across Myliddy, Vasavilan, Palali, Kurumbasity, Kadduvan remain under military control.
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.
