Tamil residents from Valikamam North submitted a formal petition to the Governor of the Northern Province on May 18, urging the immediate release of lands that remain under prolonged Sri Lankan military occupation.
The petition, delivered through the Valikamam North Development Forum, highlighted key areas still inaccessible to rightful owners - including Myliddy, Palali, and Thaiyiddy, where extensive tracts of civilian land continue to be held by the Sri Lankan military.
The petition marks yet another appeal in a decades-long campaign by Tamil residents to reclaim land seized during and after the armed conflict. Valikamam North, located in the Jaffna Peninsula, saw mass displacement as the Sri Lankan military transformed entire villages into High Security Zones, effectively evicting tens of thousands of Tamils from their ancestral homes.
Landowners participating in the handover emphasised that the areas under occupation are vital for livelihoods such as fishing and agriculture, as well as for residential resettlement. Despite repeated government promises, they noted, their land has yet to be fully released.
In response, the Governor of the Northern Province reportedly assured the delegation that the remaining lands would be returned in stages during the tenure of the current Sri Lankan president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
In areas such as Thaiyiddy, Buddhist monuments have been constructed with military backing. Despite isolated returns of land in recent years, thousands of acres across the Tamil homeland remain under the control of the Sri Lankan armed forces.
