The Sri Lankan government has issued a Gazette notification announcing the mass appropriation of lands across the Tamil homeland, including large coastal areas from Pudumatalan to Mullivaikkal—site of Sri Lanka's genocide of Tamils in May 2009.
The March 28 Gazette gave notice under Section 4 of the Land Settlement Ordinance. It stated that any party with claims over the lands identified for acquisition should notify Assistant Settlement Officer, Suvinda S. Singapupuli., before June 28 2025. The Gazette stated that the lands will subsequently be declared as state property under Section 5(1) of the Ordinance.
The notification details the acquisition of land in several villages that bore the brunt of Sri Lanka’s military assault in the final stages of the armed conflict. These include Pudumatalan, Ambalavan Pokkanai, Valayanmadam, Mullivaikkal East, Mullivaikkal West, Irattaivaikkal and surrounding areas. In total, over 1,700 acres are marked for takeover—934 acres in Mullivaikkal, 354 acres in Pudumatalan and Ambalavan Pokkanai, and 414 acres in Valayanmadam and Irattaivaikkal. These lands include paddy fields, coconut plantations, sand dunes, water bodies, and forested areas.
The Gazette also announced details of lands in Jaffna, Mullaitivu, and Mannar that are set to become government lands.
The areas between Pudumatalan and Mullivaikkal were part of the so-called No Fire Zones declared in 2009, where tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were trapped and subjected to heavy shelling by the Sri Lankan military. UN estimates say at least 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in Mullivaikkal, with a study by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group and International Truth and Justice Project recording 503 enforced disappearances between May 17–19, 2009 alone.
On Friday, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) General Secretary M.A. Sumanthiran visited Mullaitivu and Maruthanerny, where he met landowners and lawyers. He urged those with land documents to contact them immediately. Sumanthiran criticsed the move, particularly the three-month deadline, highlighting that many of the land owners were living as refugees in Indian camps and in European nations. He warned that if the government does not reverse this decision by May 28, they would begin a civil disobedience campaign on May 29 and disrupt government machinery in the district.
The land seizures stand in stark contrast to pledges made by the National People’s Power (NPP) and Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. NPP had pledged in a policy document of August 2024, that they would settle land related issues via a National Commission on Lands and Settlement. Dissanayake himself pledged to return land held by state agencies at a rally in Jaffna in November 2024, ahead of the parliamentary elections.
Since the end of the armed conflict in 2009, Tamil lands have remained under the control of the Sri Lankan military and various state departments, including the Forestry Department and Department of Archaeology. Despite regime changes and promises of reform, the ongoing land appropriation and legacy of genocide continue to weigh heavily on Tamil people in the North-East
