CPA: Trincomalee HSZ violates international law

[TamilNet, Thursday, 12 June 2008, 01:00 GMT]
Asserting that "sustainable solutions are required to reduce tension, discrimination and deprivation of communities," the Center for Policy Alternatives (CPA), a Colombo-based political, humanitarian think-tank, in a report on the current status of issues related to land in Trincomalee, said that, "[u]nfortunately, the various policies adopted by the authorities have had the opposite effect." Noting that 7,338 people will lose their homes due the 'reduced' High Security Zone (HSZ), the report said, "a serious review needs to be taken of the necessity of incorporating such a large extent of land into the HSZ."
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SLA appropriating Tamil IDPs' properties in Ampaa’rai district

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 June 2008, 09:38 GMT]
The appropriation of the properties of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) and a Non-government organization in the Tamil areas in Ampaa’rai district by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and Special Task Force (STF) Friday is a premeditated government plan to prevent the displaced from resettling in their traditional villages, K. Pathmananthan, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian for Thikaamaduva in Ampaa’rai district, said.
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Pillayan group on recruitment drive among Paduvaankarai resettlers

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 May 2008, 01:23 GMT]
The paramilitary operatives of Pillayan group are intimidating and threatening recently resettled families in Paduvaankarai in Batticaloa district to allow one member from each family to join the group, residents from the area told TamilNet.
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Jaffna Bishop's House appeal to Colombo to rebuild Allaippiddi church

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 May 2008, 14:33 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop House and several Catholic organizations in Jaffna peninsula appealed to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to rebuild St. Philips Narrie’s church in Allaiappiddi in the islets of Jaffna which was destroyed in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Multi-barrel Rocket Launcher (MBRL) fire in August 2006, sources in Jaffna said. The church serves more than 80 resettled families in Allaipiddi.
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One million people in Sri Lanka may face starvation - WFP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 26 April 2008, 15:28 GMT]
“Scarcity of food items and the subsequent escalation in the cost of essential items may result in more than one million in the country facing starvation," Mohamed Saleheen, the resident representative of United Nations (UN) World Food program (WFP) in Colombo told the media Friday. As a result of the situation, the WFP country office in Sri Lanka is facing major crisis, he said, and urged donor countries to respond immediately to overcome the crisis.
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65 Allaippiddi IDP families resettled

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 22 April 2008, 11:05 GMT]
Jaffna Secretariat officials transported 65 families of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Monday in 3 buses and lorries loaded with their belongings from camps in Jaffna for resettlement in Allaippiddi, sources in Jaffna said. Many Non-government Organizations (NGOs) in Jaffna peninsula, however, expressed concern that the security situation has not returned to normal.
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4 men abducted in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 18 April 2008, 14:21 GMT]
Unidentified men abducted three family men in Pullumalai and one from the adjoining village Koapaaivea’li in Batticaloa district last week, according to complaints made by their wives to the local Human Rights organizations and police stations.
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Resettlement of Allaippiddi IDPs begins

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 April 2008, 18:27 GMT]
Thirteen families of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Allaipiddi, the islet village where 13 civilians were massacred by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in May 2006, have been resettled in Allaippiddi in the first stage of resettlement, according to Jaffna Secretariat. 65 more families are ready to return to Allaippiddi and to occupy houses built for them with the help of World Vision, International and local NGOs and they will be resettled on Monday, Jaffna Government Agent announced. Education Department officials in the islet are making arrangement to reopen Paraasakthi Maha Viththiyalam, the only school in Allaippiddi.
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STF shoots dead 2 Tamils in Vavu’natheevu

[TamilNet, Monday, 07 April 2008, 08:57 GMT]
Special Task Force (STF) commandoes shot dead two Tamil civilians at 8:30 a.m in Paalcheanai area in Vavu’natheevu police division in Batticaloa district, following a Claymore attack on a STF road patrol unit in Paavatkodicheanai in Paalcheanai, sources in Batticaloa said.
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Moothoor resettled lack basic facilities-TNA

[TamilNet, Friday, 04 April 2008, 11:29 GMT]
Resettled families sheltered in schools at Pallikudiruppu and Amman Nagar in Moothoor east in Trincomalee district are undergoing serious difficulties without basic facilities and other relief, since their return, K.Thurairatnasingham, Trincomalee district Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian said in a complaint to Resettlement Minister Rishard Badiudin. About 200 families have been resettled in Pallikudiduruppu and 70 families at Amman Nagar close to Arafat Nagar, about one km off from Moothoor east.
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450 Trincomalee IDPs to be resettled Tuesday

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 25 March 2008, 02:46 GMT]
A group of civilians from Trincomalee district, internally displaced due to military offensives, and residing in welfare centres in various parts of Batticaloa district, are being taken to their original places of residence Tuesday in 15 buses, Batticaloa kachcheri officials said.
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No compensation in sight for Vaakarai, Champoor victims

[TamilNet, Thursday, 13 March 2008, 11:14 GMT]
Even after a lapse of one-and-a-half-year, the families of at least 100 civilians killed and 84 wounded in Vaakarai region of Batticaloa district during Sri Lanka Army (SLA) offensive, are still waiting for their compensations from the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL). In the meantime, the families of the victims of previous SLA offensives before the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA), who were assured of their sanctioned compensations, complained that the authorities were still delaying their payments. Before the local elections in Batticaloa in March 2008, the GoSL offered some fishing nets to fishermen societies and gifted 25,000 rupees per temple in Vaakarai.
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Court orders resettlement of 3000 IDP families in Valikaamam North

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 11 March 2008, 11:46 GMT]
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court Monday ordered Sri Lanka Government officials to expedite resettlement of first batch of three thousand families displaced from Valikaamam North in Jaffna district in their own lands, after a two member-committee comprising a representative nominated by the Jaffna High Court and a nominee of the Defense Ministry had scrutinized their applications and submitted their report to the Court, legal sources in Colombo said.
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Allaippiddi IDPs reluctant to return despite concessions

[TamilNet, Monday, 10 March 2008, 16:11 GMT]
Sri Lanka government (GoSL) and Jaffna Government Agent (GA) are making efforts to resettle Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Allaippiddi, displaced due to Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) offensives in August 2006, offering benefits and concessions with the help of International and local Non-government organizations, Jaffna Secretariat sources said. But 90% of the IDP fishing families are reluctant to return because fishing, their main means of living, is banned by SLN and the danger from land mines near civilian settlements have not been fully eliminated, IDP related welfare organization sources said.
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Students protest abduction of girl students in Kalkudaa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 09 March 2008, 08:35 GMT]
Students of Kalkudaa Naamakal Viththiyaalayam continue their boycott demanding the immediate release of two girl students of the school abducted last week by paramilitary men in white van, sources in Kalkudaa said. Kalkudaa police chief summoned the principal and teachers of the school and urged them to persuade the students to suspend the boycott, student leaders said.
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Japan-UNDP sign agreement to assist resettlement in NorthEast

[TamilNet, Friday, 07 March 2008, 01:14 GMT]
Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, during a meeting held on Tuesday at the office of the Sri Lanka's Nation Building Plantation Infrastructure Ministry said, to promote peace efforts in Sri Lanka, the Government of Japan is ready to provide the much needed assistance to the conflict-affected people of the north and east to enjoy the fruits of peace.
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Armed men abduct 2 teenage girls in Vaazhaichcheanai

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 05 March 2008, 12:08 GMT]
Fatigue uniform clad armed men who came in a white van abducted a 16-year-old girl student Monday night around 11:30 from her house in Karungkaalichchoalai in Vaazhaichcheanai police division in Batticaloa district and another 16-year-old girl student from the same area Tuesday night around same time from her house. The armed men had also tried to abduct a young woman from another house in Karungkaalichchoalai but had let her go when she, amidst wails, had begged saying she is married, residents in the area told TamilNet.
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UPFA, TMVP alliance implicates GoSL complicity, collusion with armed group - CPA

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 13:37 GMT]
Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo based think-tank that undertook a fact finding mission to Batticaloa district between February 8 and 11, said Sri Lanka's ruling United Peoples Freedom Allilance (UPFA) government, by opting for the alliance with the armed TMVP group in Batticaloa municipal council election, finds itself in a position where it is increasingly difficult for the GoSL to deny the charges of "complicity and collusion with the TMVP." The CPA's statement has warned that there was a clear sense of inevitability that the elections will result in a TMVP "victory" as it is the only "political actor" allowed to move around in recently resettled areas.
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Fact finding civil groups want elections stopped in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 10:55 GMT]
"Batticaloa elections seem to be about legitimizing brutality through forced political authority and participation," said a group of 9 civil society organisations that undertook a fact finding mission to the district between February 16 and 18. The mission, issuing a report titled "Afraid to even say the word: Elections in Batticaloa," in a press conference held in Renuka hotel on Wednesday, said despite the possibility of International and independent election monitors generally having a positive influence on the electoral process, the presence of monitors inherently risks legitimizing elections despite sincere efforts to expose any violations.
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Moves afoot to convince reluctant Allaippiddi IDPs to return

[TamilNet, Monday, 25 February 2008, 14:23 GMT]
The Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Allaippiddi from the islets of Jaffna who were displaced due to Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) offensives in Allaippiddi in August 2006 and presently staying in Jaffna, are reluctant to return to their villages according to arrangements made by Jaffna Secretariat because fishing, their main means of living, in their areas is banned by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), IDP related welfare organization sources in Jaffna said.
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