By Mirak Raheem

This October marked the nineteenth anniversary of the expulsion of the Northern Muslims. In this one act of ethnic cleaning the LTTE forcibly evicted the entire Muslim population from the five districts of the Northern Province resulting in the mass displacement and dispossession of over 60,000 persons.

This nineteenth anniversary is taking place at a unique moment. The return of the Northern Muslims to their homes and communities, which for so long seemed largely elusive, now seems possible. The Government’s defeat of the LTTE is particularly significant for the Northern Muslims as the LTTE was the main obstacle to return. There is also a growing momentum to supporting the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North. However, due to the lack of reference to their return and absence of specific policies on the part of the Government, humanitarian agencies and international community, the Northern Muslims are understandably concerned.

A Desire to Return?

There appears to be a pre-dominant viewpoint among humanitarian and political actors that the expelled Muslims do not want to return. The majority of the expelled Northern Muslims have been living in protracted displacement, largely in welfare centres in the Puttalam district. There are also a significant number of expelled Muslims living with host families or in their own houses in other areas such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Colombo and Negombo. According to a controversial survey done by UNHCR in 2004; the majority of the displaced preferred to integrate into Puttalam than return to their original homes, despite the conditions in the camps being dismal and serious concerns relating to basic services and employment opportunities. Given that an entire generation has grown up in protracted displacement and is unfamiliar with life in the North, it is inevitable that a number of the displaced may choose to integrate into Puttalam. Even within the same family, individuals will make different choices and preferences, some opting to return, others to integrate in Puttalam. Either way, it is certain that the choice should be voluntary and that return has to be an option. The numbers of returnees to the North over the last years, including during the ceasefire period seemed to confirm the assumption that return was unlikely. Only a fraction of the community returned to their ancestral homes in Mannar Island, Jaffna, Mussali and the rest of the North. Due to repeated cycles of war and peace, and insecurity some returnees faced re-displacement which only served to reinforce the idea that return was increasingly difficult. That these small communities persisted in their attempt to return, however highlighted the determination of the Northern Muslim community to return.

Returning Muslims also faced additional problems common to other IDPs such as the occupation of property by others; destruction and damages to properties and community infrastructure; and the lack of comprehensive support to make return sustainable, especially for restoring livelihoods. While at the community level Northern Muslims found that their Tamil neighbours were welcoming, the government bureaucracy proved less so.

The main obstacle, however, for the return of the Northern Muslims was the LTTE’s unwillingness to provide assurance, both at the leadership and community level that they would not re-expel the Muslim community. Further, the lack of guarantee from the Government and the international community in that regard served to make many Northern Muslims wary despite their desire to return.

The defeat of the LTTE by the Government in May 2009 had a dramatic impact on the decision of whether to return. With the threat of the LTTE removed, members of the expelled communities who seemed so reluctant were finally eager to return, but these communities have been disappointed by recent developments.

Support for Return?

Pre-expulsion Mussali was the only division in the North with a Muslim majority; hence it holds tremendous significance for the return of expelled Muslims. Mussali in Southern Mannar was also the first area opened up by the Government as a part of its ‘180 day plan’ (which aims to resettle 80% of the ‘new IDPs’ by December 2009) and Vadakkin Vasantham (‘Northern Spring’) program. While the Government followed a phased return process, generally in keeping with the UN’s Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, only those displaced from Mussali in September 2007 and still living in displacement within Mannar District were allowed to resettle. This effectively meant that those Muslims who had been displaced from Mussali in September 2007 but had moved back to Puttalam or in 1990 and living in displacement outside Mannar were not included into the resettlement program.

Without any official information as to a process or timeline for return, the Mussali Muslims became increasingly apprehensive. As it appeared that there were no Government programs to facilitate the return of families and therefore, communities had to organise their own arrangements. Efforts to spontaneously return were initially foiled as returnees were told they could only stay in Mussali for three days and were unable to secure permission to stay longer. Community representatives repeatedly lobbied political actors and after the issue was raised in parliament and in the media the authorities began a process of facilitated return.

The Government initiated a new resettlement phase in Manthai West and other parts of the Vanni two weeks ago. Once more there is no information provided to the Northern Muslim IDPs as to whether they are eligible to be resettled in the on-going process. There are fears that the Government will delay the resettlement of Northern Muslims, and will allow them to resettle only a few months after the Vanni IDPs have been resettled. This delay could have serious implications especially in terms of land ownership and usage issues. There are additional concerns that only those who were displaced in 1990 will be allowed to return, i.e. the younger generation who was born and grew up in displacement will not receive official separate assistance.

The Old IDPs

The lack of information and the non existence of a formal process for return for the Northern Muslim IDPs appears to be part of a larger problem faced by ‘old IDPs’. In current discussions, there is tendency to speak of the IDP problem with reference only to the ‘new IDPs’ – a population of roughly 280,000 displaced from the Vanni since December 2008. It is difficult to even get an official estimate for the number of ‘old IDPs.’ It is estimated that there are between 190,000 to 300,000 ‘old IDPs’ some of whom were displaced as early as the 1980s.

The expelled Northern Muslims are the largest group within this population of ‘old IDPs’ currently estimated at over 120,000. The IDPs from Jaffna’s High Security Zones (HSZ) form the next largest group at roughly 84,000 individuals and a significant number of displaced from the Eastern Province. Ironically it appears that the number of ‘old IDPs’ could increase over the next weeks as a number of the ‘returns’ of ‘new IDPs’ to Jaffna are from the HSZs in Jaffna so could end up having to live in displacement either with host families or in the ‘old welfare camps.’ An additional population outside this group is the refugees from Sri Lanka currently living in other countries. In India alone it is estimated that there are 120,000 refugees from Sri Lanka who will look to return.

The Government faces a huge challenge in addressing the resettlement and development of the North, and over the last few weeks has taken significant steps in ‘releasing’ and ‘resettling’ a significant number of IDPs detained in closed camps in Vavuniya, Jaffna, Trincomalee and Mannar. There are serious issues regarding the modalities for release and return of these IDPs, including their re-detainment in closed camps in the districts of origin. A fundamental problem with the current resettlement process is that information is tightly restricted, so even the ‘new IDPs’ have little or no information regarding what is happening to them. Nonetheless, it is a starting point for the Government to push ahead with its ‘180 Day Plan’ and Vadakkin Vasantham program to ensure that the displaced civilians who have been detained for the last few months are free. The obvious step to strengthen the process and improve public confidence is to create a more open resettlement process, with information for all the IDPs (regardless of old or new) as to what the Government is proposing in terms of displacement, release, return, development.

The ‘old IDPs’ do not seem to be a part of either the ‘180 Day Plan’ or the Vadakkin Vasantham programs. The Government’s Three Year Investment Programme for the Northern Province does not make specific reference to them and does not even seem to include them into the statistics. Citing the Ministry of Disaster Relief and Resettlement, the document claims 270,023 are presently displaced in the Northern Province.

The Government has also not made any specific policy statements on how and when the ‘old IDPs’ will be resettled. In fact in the East, the Government has announced that there are no more IDPs. In fact there are at least 6,000 persons who cannot return due to the Sampur High Security Zone (HSZS) which covers four GS divisions, and currently live in welfare camps and other transitional arrangements. Like in the case of the Jaffna HSZs, the Government has yet to make a commitment to roll back the HSZs and to allow the displaced to return to reclaim their lives and full dignity.

There are also families and entire villages from all ethnic communities who fled in the 1980s from ‘border villages’ in the East. There are some displaced of whom are not even officially identified as IDPs by the Government and hence, are not included in the official statistics. In other instances the assistance for return is only for those who were originally displaced in the late 1980s or 1990s and not for the next generation who grew up in displacement. Be they Sinhalese from Batticaloa Town, Muslims from Vakarai or Tamils from Muttur, there has to be a formal process at the provincial, district and community level to assist these people who for all purposes are displaced.

The issue of the ‘old IDPs’ does not seem to have much currency among politicians. Apart from a few individual Muslim M.Ps who have raised the issue, most political parties seem to have also ignored the old IDPs. It is ironic given that some of these politicians actually represent their constituencies.

Humanitarian actors for the most part are also silent on the question of ‘old IDPs.’ It is striking that apart from the Representative of the United Nations’ Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kaelin’s statement on September 29 2009 the UN has not made any specific reference to addressing the needs of the ‘old IDPs’ in the last few months. There are only a handful of humanitarian agencies who are committed to providing assistance to and to raise concerns of this sizeable population. While the Government faces a huge challenge in dealing with the ‘new IDPs’ it is unclear why it cannot provide basic information to the ‘old IDPs’ even if the resettlement process of old and new does not happen simultaneously. If there is a commitment to ending displacement in Sri Lanka and providing durable solutions every effort has to be made by all actors to addressing the issue comprehensively, not piecemeal.

What needs to happen

It is quite clear that the Government, political parties and humanitarian actors need to address the needs of the old IDPs. Beyond recognizing and putting into action the right of return for all IDPs (both old and new), the inclusion of the ‘old IDPs’ into the Governments plans would serve as a vital confidence building measure and would avoid creating and exacerbating land and communal conflicts. The Government has the primary responsibility and needs to make clear its plans for the ‘old IDPs.’ These IDPs, including the Northern Muslims, are not asking that their interests be put ahead of the new IDPs. Instead, all they want is an equal right to return.

When the mass exodus from the Vanni took place in April 2009, Northern Muslims in Puttalam gathered rations to send to the camps in Vavuniya in a moving gesture of shared humanity and tragedy. If people who have suffered so much can be so generous, why cannot we? As a society we have to re-claim our humanity and sense of compassion. Restoring the full rights of the Tamil civilians from the Vanni as guaranteed by the Constitution of this country, including the freedom of movement, is a first step in that direction.

Parallel to this a commitment to assisting all displaced and war-affected to build back their lives is required. Sri Lanka has a historic opportunity to address the conflict and its consequences; we should not miss it due to oversight and negligence.