Refugees, Citizenship and Belonging in South Asia by Nasreen Chowdhory

Author:Nasreen Chowdhory
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer Singapore, Singapore

Relocations of Tamil Returnee-Refugees in Madhukarai, Sri Lanka

Located in the Mannar district of Sri Lanka, Madhukarai provides a contrast to the above discussion, particularly in relation to Narratives I and II. It is one of the few areas allocated by the Government of Sri Lanka as a possible zone of resettlement for returnee-refugee families. The returnee-refugees resettled in Madhukarai had done so under the recommendation of the GA of Mannar, Sri Lanka.

In 2001, families were resettled in the government-controlled areas of Madhukarai in order to ease some of the burden on ‘packed’ government-run welfare camps in Vavuniya. It was part of the special government-sponsored resettlement programmes offered to families living in welfare centres for a long period of time and who were unable to settle in their own habitat in the near future; they were to be resettled through special programmes. This was managed with the close co-ordination with the Ministers of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of North and Tamil Affairs of the North East (RRAN). The programme was launched in 2001 in the three districts of Jaffna, Vavuniya and Mannar. Families living in welfare camps for more than five years were viewed as potential candidates of resettlement programme. It was targeted that the first group of 1000 families living in Welfare Centres (WC) in Vavuniya would be allowed to resettle. The first group of 340 families was resettled in the Mannar district. However, the relocation programme intended that families from high security zone areas or uncleared areas under the jurisdiction of the LTTE would be resettled in Jaffna, Mannar or Vavuniya. Out of the designated 340 families resettled in Mannar, 100 families were resettled in Madhukarai, in the Nanaddan Division; 240 were to resettle in the Musali Division (100 families in Maruthamadu and 100 families in Chilawathirai).56 Families were resettled on a priority basis: those originally belonging to Mannar were given preference over others. However, it was necessary to have the right documents to make any claims.

One hundred refugee-returnee families resettled in Madhukarai. After eight to nine years in various transit camps, these families were relocated and resettled. In this task, the offices of the GAs of Mannar and Vavuniya were actively involved in facilitating the process. The families were given the opportunity to resettle in different locations57; that is, in locations other than the exact place of displacement prior to residing in WC and fleeing to India. In some instances, families originally from Mannar were given preference over those residing in Jaffna or Trincomalee. However, there were allegations that the GA’s office and Kachcheri were ‘resettling’ refugees in neutral areas rather than allowing them to go back to their ‘exact place of origin’, which in most cases were still war-affected areas. The Sri Lankan government appeared reluctant ‘in good conscience’ to facilitate relocation to areas under the jurisdiction of the LTTE. In an interview, the GA pointed out that most of the resettled population originally came from Mannar.

Refugees living in Madhukarai were different from those living in transit camps. Ms.

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