Western Province (NA): Timeline (Terrorist Activities) -2015

The National Fisheries Solidarity (NAFSO) movement organised a roundtable in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo on September 7, to discuss a report, titled “Let them come back to their places of origin in and with dignity”, the study centered on the situation in 38 refugee camps in 27 villages, reports Asia News. Completed in late August, the report indicated that about 35 camps have existed since the 1990s, but five of them were hitherto unknown. Some 1,536 families or 5,836 people live in the camps. However, about 30,000 people are still internally displaced on the Jaffna Peninsula. The island nation saw a brutal civil war between the government and Tamil Tigers [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, LTTE]. The latter sought to create an independent state in the predominantly Tamil provinces of northern and eastern Sri Lanka. These areas bore the brunt of 30 years of bloody civil war between the army and rebels, and the civil war ended with the rebels’ defeat. NAFSO coordinator Lavina Hasanthi told Asia News that the overall picture of the situation is still incomplete because many displaced people are not registered at refugee camps. Some in fact prefer to live in makeshift tents near their original home. NAFSO president Herman Kumara, a special guest from the World Forum for Fisher People (WFFP), told Asia News that 55 per cent of those living in the camps do not have electricity, and 70 per cent do not have access to clean water. He also noted that lavatories are almost non-existent, and where they do exist, they are off-limits at night. "As human rights activists, all we can hope for is for our fellow citizens to lead a life based on dignity,” he said. “We anticipate that displaced people will go back to a normal life, on their land, revive their culture so as to contribute to the country’s economy. Above all, we want to see them get out of their currently subhuman conditions and start to lead a decent living.” Read less...