Sri Lanka: IDPs wanting to return faced with difficulties
| Publisher | IRIN |
| Publication Date | 7 September 2011 |
| Cite as | IRIN, Sri Lanka: IDPs wanting to return faced with difficulties, 7 September 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4e69e3d02.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
More than two years after the defeat in May 2009 of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, the government has reportedly kept some IDPs' areas of origin closed for return for reasons of national security. In nine localities in Puthukkudiyiruppu and Maritimepattu in Mullaitivu District, humanitarian demining organisations were yet to start mine clearance activities in late July because the government had not given them access. 15 localities in Tellippalai in Jaffna District also remained closed.
Many among the more than 9,000 IDPs remaining in Menik Farm camp originate from the closed areas in Mullaitivu, as do others among over 57,000 people still living with host communities. The government is preparing to relocate them to Kombavil in Mullaitivu, even though most of the IDPs would reportedly prefer to return.
