Sri Lanka: 30,000 displaced return home in east
Briefing Notes, 29 May 2007
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 29 May 2007, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
In the east of Sri Lanka, in the two weeks since the launch of the government's return programme in West Batticaloa, some 30,000 displaced people have returned to their homes in the Vellavelly DS division. The authorities plan to return in phases, a total of more than 90,000 displaced people from Batticaloa over the coming months.
We have access to the areas of return and continue to monitor the process. Our staff have made several assessment missions and generally have seen that conditions are conductive for return. Most of the returnees seem happy to be home but had received little prior information about the conditions in the areas of return. No security incidents or arrests have been reported in Vellawelly since the start of the resettlement process.
The return to Vellavelly DS division was scheduled to be completed last Thursday, but a minority of displaced have opted to stay back for a variety of reasons including concerns about security, shelter conditions in return locations, livelihood options, children finishing the current school term, or employment.
We will continue to support the government in assisting displaced people to return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity. From observations made during the first phase of movement, UNHCR has made a few suggestions to the government on strengthening the process during the second phase scheduled to start on 1 June. Among the recommendations made was that the government prepare and distribute information notification in advance of the phase II movement so the displaced are well informed about what is happening. We also urged the government to provide clearance for a UN advance assessment team as soon as possible as it is a priority that agencies have access to areas of return before the return takes place.
Another suggestion was for more, clearly identifiable, personnel from the Ministry of Resettlement to be involved in the pre-return processing and the involvement of the military be reduced as far as possible.
Statelessness in Sri Lanka: Hill Tamils
Most of the people working on the hundreds of tea plantations that dot Sri Lanka's picturesque hill country are descended from ethnic Tamils brought from India between 1820 and 1840 when the island was under British colonial rule. Although these people, known as "Hill Tamils," have been making an invaluable contribution to Sri Lanka's economy for almost two centuries, up until recently the country's stringent citizenship laws made it next to impossible for them to berecognized as citizens. Without the proper documents they could not vote, hold a government job, open a bank account or travel freely.
The Hill Tamils have been the subject of a number of bilateral agreements in the past giving them the option between Sri Lankan and Indian citizenship. But in 2003, there were still an estimated 300,000 stateless people of Indian origin living in Sri Lanka.
Things improved markedly, in October 2003, after the Sri Lankan parliament passed the "Grant of Citizenship to People of Indian Origin Act," which gave nationality to people who had lived in Sri Lanka since 1964 and to their descendants. UNHCR, the government of Sri Lanka and local organizations ran an information campaign informing Hill Tamils about the law and the procedures for acquiring citizenship. With more than 190,000 of the stateless people in Sri Lanka receiving citizenship over a 10-day period in late 2003, this was heralded as a huge success story in the global effort to reduce statelessness.
Also, in 2009, the parliament passed amendments to existing regulations, granting citizenship to refugees who fled Sri Lanka's conflict and are living in camps in India. This makes it easier for them to return to Sri Lanka if they so wish to.
Statelessness in Sri Lanka: Hill Tamils
Tsunami Aftermath in Sri Lanka
Shortly after the tsunami hit Sri Lanka, killing over 30,000 people and displacing nearly 800,000, UNHCR was asked to take a lead role in providing transitional shelter – bridging the gap between emergency tents and the construction of permanent homes. The refugee agency is not normally involved in natural disasters, but lent its support to the effort because of the scale of the devastation and because many of the tsunami-affected people were also displaced by the conflict.
Since the 26 December 2004 tsunami, UNHCR has helped in the coordination and construction of over 55,000 transitional shelters and has directly constructed, through its partners, 4,500 shelters in Jaffna in the north, and Ampara District in the east. These efforts are helping some 20,000 people rebuild their lives.
On 15 November, 2005, UNHCR completed its post-tsunami shelter role and formally handed over responsibility for the shelter sector to the Sri Lankan government. Now, UNHCR is returning its full focus to its pre-tsunami work of providing assistance to people internally displaced by the conflict, and refugees repatriating from India.
Tsunami Aftermath in Sri Lanka
Picking Up the Pieces in Sri Lanka
In an unprecedented response to a natural disaster, the U.N. refugee agency – whose mandate is to protect refugees fleeing violence and persecution – has kicked off a six-month, multi-million dollar emergency relief operation to aid tsunami victims in Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Somalia. UNHCR has worked in Sri Lanka for nearly 20 years and has the largest operational presence in the country with seven offices, 113 staff and a strong network of partnerships in place. The day of the tsunami, UNHCR opened up its warehouses in the island nation and began distributing existing stockpiles – including plastic sheeting, cooking sets and clothing for 100,000 people.
UNHCR estimates that some 889,000 people are now displaced in Sri Lanka, including many who were already displaced by the long-running conflict in the north. Prior to the tsunami, UNHCR assisted 390,000 people uprooted by the war. UNHCR is now expanding its logistical and warehouse capacity throughout the island to facilitate delivery of relief items to the needy populations, including in the war-affected area. The refugee agency is currently distributing relief items and funding mobile health clinics to assist the injured and sick.
Picking Up the Pieces in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Home At Last
Grace Selvarani has lived in a refugee camp in India for the past two decades. Today, the Sri Lankan is delighted to be going back home by boat with more than 40 other refugees.
India/Sri Lanka: A Ferry Ride Home
For the first time in many years, Sri Lankan refugees are returning home from India by ferry.
Sri Lanka: Time to Return
A year after the end of the long civil war in Sir Lanka, the government is slowly helping the internally displaced to return home.
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