A human rights crisis has arisen in Pulakkudiyiruppu, Keppapulavu, a war affected area in northern Sri Lanka. People in this village took to the street en masse a week ago, demanding the Sri Lankan government to return their native lands grabbed by the armed forces.

The on-going protest has reached an alarming state with some of the war victims threatening to commit suicide, should the Sri Lankan government fail to address the issue. This is undoubtedly a cause for serious concern. Given the intensity of the protests and the indifference shown by the Sri Lankan government towards the problem, there is strong fear amongst human rights activists that the protests might reach a tragic climax. This has also resulted in children not being able to go to schools. Immediate action is required to arrest the situation.

There are about 87 families in this village. The area, which the Sri Lankan Air Force has occupied, covers over 20 acres of land and paddy fields belonging to the people protesting. At the early stages of the protest, Sri Lankan Air Force authorities reportedly promised that they would release the land for their rightful owners to return and resettle. But later on, they’d started putting fences in these lands.

Forced military occupations in civil lands and unlawful land grabbing by the security forces have been a longstanding problem in the war-battered northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka.

We, the undersigned, believe that the crisis situation in Keppapulavu calls for immediate intervention by the international community.

We request the UK government to urge the government of Sri Lanka to return military occupied lands belonging to civilians and ensure normalcy prevails in Keppapulavu.

Please see below media reports pertaining to this issue:

http://www.ceylonews.com/2016/01/idps-in-mullaitivu-demand-military-to-return-native-lands/

http://ibctamil.com/news/index/37702

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6bXVJ429Xk

https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=38574