Resettled government servants in Champoor complain of ethnic discrimination

[TamilNet, Sunday, 12 February 2017, 23:07 GMT]
176 public servants, who are among the resettled Eezham Tamils in Champoor, are being systematically discriminated in the provision of governmental and non-governmental assistance for their resettlement after being uprooted from their own lands in Champoor. From Colombo's UNP-influenced administrative hierarchy to the Tamil-speaking Divisional Secretary of Moothoor, the entire administrative mechanism of the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka has been operating against the resettled Champoor Tamils. While the structural discrimination has been institutionalized in the ‘Sri Lankan’ system, the officials of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) have also not been able to assist the people cutting the red tape of the anti-Tamil establishment operating against the resettled Tamils in Champoor.
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Resettled fisher families at Palaali North face hunger due to UNDP negligence

[TamilNet, Sunday, 29 January 2017, 18:33 GMT]
The UN Development Agency was promising to provide sea-access facilities to more than 50 fisher families who were resettled after 27 years in their own coastal fishing village of Antonypuram in Palaali North in Valikaamam North. A few weeks ago, the fishermen families shifted their work from displaced Inparuddi area in Vadamaraadchi North to their own village in Palaali. After the SL military allowed them to access the sea 60 days ago, the fishermen were only able to make it to sea for 5 days, says 34-year-old Sujeevan Antonypillai, a resettled fisherman. The UNDP, after promising to put up the fisheries infrastructure, has delayed it. Housing was provided through Indian Housing Scheme, which was initiated in May 2016. The UNDP is now citing bad weather conditions to commence the infrastructure work.
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SL military intensifies human surveillance on visitors to Champoor

[TamilNet, Monday, 16 January 2017, 22:21 GMT]
The occupying navy of genocidal Sri Lanka has deployed various actors to spy on those visiting Champoor in Moothoor East of Trincomalee district. All visitors, including the relatives and friends of resettled Eezham Tamils in Champoor, are being subjected to human surveillance through auto rickshaw drivers based in Moothoor town, bus drivers and public sector officials. SL Navy intelligence wing in Champoor has instructed auto drivers in Moothoor town to report details of external visitors, including those from other villages in Trincomalee, immediately after driving each visitor to Champoor. Likewise, shop owners, bus drivers and public sector officials have to report details of those visiting Champoor. The freedom of speech of resettled Champoor people has become much more limited than how it was earlier during the Rajapaksa regime.
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No Pongkal celebrations for resettled Champoor Tamils in 2017

[TamilNet, Saturday, 14 January 2017, 21:54 GMT]
Tamil families who resettled in the lands released in Champoor after being uprooted from their native village for 10 years, complain that they have been abandoned without basic infrastructure or basic facilities. There have been no compensation for the destruction caused by the SL State on their property. Even the promise of providing dray rations for 6 months was not kept by the SL President Maithiripala Sirisena. The people were not able to celebrate Pongkal festival as they were among the hardest hit by the drought.
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Erection of Buddha statues in areas where no Buddhists live, has become despicable: MP

[TamilNet, Thursday, 05 January 2017, 23:11 GMT]
The widespread erection of Buddha statues in the Northern and Eastern provinces, especially in places where no Buddhists live and Bo trees being regarded as the exclusive property of Sinhala Buddhists, have now become analogous to ‘despicable’ symbols in the minds of Tamil-speaking people as these have been used as tools of occupation disrespecting the prospects for harmony between the different religions, say senior Tamil-speaking politicians in the North and East. Tamil-speaking people are not opposed to peaceful co-existence of religions, but when these symbols reflect ethno religious aggression, these become despicable in their minds, says K. Thurairatnasingham, a senior Tamil National Alliance (TNA) national list parliamentarian from Trincomalee. In the meantime, several Hindu temples in the East have witnessed theft and desecration in recent days.
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Resettled Sinhala farmers oppose genocidal colonisation of Tamil village in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 December 2016, 22:25 GMT]
28 Sinhala families, who displaced from Ko'ndaichchi Cashew farm to Anuradhapura in 1990 due to the war and resettled back in the Ko'ndaichchi farm in the predominant Tamil-speaking division of Musali during the regime of Rajapaksa, are also opposing the latest Sinhala colonisation moves that are being spearheaded by the occupying SL Navy in Paasith-then'ral village coming under the GS area of Ko'ndaichchi. The fertile lands, owned by Eezham Tamils and Tamil-speaking Muslims with land deeds going back to almost 100-years-old from the times of British rule, are now being taken over silently by the occupying SL Navy, which has put up a naval base right in front of Paasith-then'ral tank after seizing the area from the de-facto administration of the LTTE in 2007.
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UN has abandoned Champoor Tamils: EPC Councillor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 December 2016, 23:30 GMT]
The uprooted Eezham Tamils in Champoor were formally allowed to resettle in August 2015 and 906 families have moved into Champoor by March 2016. The Colombo government has failed to deliver even the basic facilities to the resettled people. So far, only 50 permanent houses have been built. Around 700 families were not provided with even temporary shelters. Only 350 temporary shelters were provided to the resettling people. More than one year have passed since people started to move in with hopes of resettlement. The Colombo government has even failed to provide assistance to government servants numbering around 110 among the uprooted people apart from latrines to 16 of them. When Tamil politicians approached UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, it simply said there was no funds allocated for the region, says EPC Councillor K. Nageswaran.
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Ownership of released Champoor lands not transferred to people from SL State

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 December 2016, 21:41 GMT]
Maithiripala Sirisena, the president and the commander-in-chief of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka, has not legally released the lands back to the resettled people in Champoor. In May 2015, Mr Sirisena issued a Gazette notification revoking and setting aside the previous alienation of the lands to the Board of Investment, which was carried out by Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2012. However, Mr Sirisena has avoided to revoke the original acquisition of the lands from people, which was carried out according to a previous order under the clause of the proviso to S.38A of the constitution of the unitary State in Colombo. The lands where people have resettled are still ‘State property’ according to the law of genocidal Sri Lanka.
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Villages in Maanthai West unable to grapple with structural genocide

[TamilNet, Friday, 09 December 2016, 23:47 GMT]
People of Eechchai-a’lavakkai and Channaar vilaages in Maanthai West of Mannaar district have been facing immense difficulties due to the existence of a training base, so-called “Commando Regiment Special Warfare Training Camp” of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka after 2009. The SL military has seized more than 3,000 acres of the most fertile lands that were once popular for agricultural produce, especially dried chilli. The military is also occupying the Channaar tank, blocking the resettled people from sustaining their livelihood of freshwater fishing. The people are deprived of cattle herding as pastureland is completely occupied by the SL military. Even the cemetery of the two villages is under SL military zone and people have to seek permission to bury or cremate their dead.
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Tamil village confronting demographic genocide remembers victims of 1984 massacre in Vanni

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 December 2016, 23:32 GMT]
The Tamil village of Othiyamalai, situated in Odduchuddaan Division of Mullaiththeevu district, is unable to confront the demographic-genocide taking place at the moment as SL President Maithiripala Sirisena is targeting to Sinhalicise the village and settle Sinhala colonisers linking the village with already Sinhalicised Ma’nal-aa’ru (Weli-Oya). More than 110 Tmail families were living in the village before they were subjected to a brutal massacre on December 02, 1984, in which 32 males were slain by the SL military. Only around 50 families have managed to resettle in 2012 and they have been remembering their slain family members each year at the rural society building, where the massacre took place.
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SL military dismantles houses, destroys traces before releasing lands

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 December 2016, 20:07 GMT]
The occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka is dismantling houses and bulldozing constructions within selected pockets of former High Security Zone lands in Valikaamam North before readying the places to be released for resettlement, uprooted Tamils from Maaviddapuram area in Jaffna told TamilNet on Thursday. The SL military is also preparing to construct another beach resort and hotel similar to the so-called Thal Sevena Army Resort at Kaang-keasan-thu'rai. The new resort is to be constructed along the coast of Mayiliddi, the sources said. Meanwhile, the Sinhala military establishment at Palaali is discouraging resettlement and is attempting to make the Tamil land-owners within the former HSZ area to purchase lands elsewhere.
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Sinhala colonists harass Tamil GS officer threatened by extremist monk

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 30 November 2016, 23:20 GMT]
No action has been taken to ensure the security of the Village Officer S. Jeevithan who has been subjected to a systematic hate-campaign by Sumarathana thero the extremist Sinhala-Buddhist monk of Batticaloa Mangalaramaya vihara, informed Divisional Secretariat sources at Paddippazhai told TamilNet on Wednesday. Almost three weeks have elapsed. Except a symbolic temporary court order against monk, no action has materialised despite the exposure of the event through traditional and social media around the globe. On the ground, the GS officer was still being harassed by Sinhala colonists at Kevu'liyaa-madu, the civil sources said.
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Colombo's militarization of Pa'n'na-vedduvaan deprives Tamil villagers of livelihood

[TamilNet, Monday, 14 November 2016, 22:43 GMT]
The occupying Sinhala military, stationed at Pa’n’na-vedduvaan sandwiched between Mannaar - Mathavaachchi Road and Aruvi-Aa'ru (Malwathu Oya) in Madu division of Mannaar district, has seized several acres of agricultural lands. In addition, a cable ferry which was put up by the Dutch relief organisation ZOA for the villagers to cross Aruvi Aa'ru and access their agricultural lands has been dismantled by the SL military in 2008. Today, the villagers are unable to engage in agriculture in more than 200 acres of lands during the rainy season. Clean water is a big problem and some children have been admitted to hospital after drinking tap water in recent times, the villagers complain. On top of this, the SL military has been exploiting the resources by scooping the soil and running a business making red-bricks and doing agriculture in the occupied village.
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Sirisena's demographic genocide deprives Tamils of livelihood in strategic coastal village of Vanni

[TamilNet, Sunday, 13 November 2016, 23:41 GMT]
Sinhala colonists in Ma'nal-aa'ru have robbed more than 200 cattle that belong to resettled Eezham Tamils in Kokkuththoduvaay, a strategically situated coastal village in Karai-thu'raip-pattu division of Mullaiththeevu district within the past two months, according to civil sources in Karai-thu'raip-pattu division. SL President Maithiripala Sirisena's ‘Mahaweli’ Ministry has been backing the Sinhala colonists at various locations in the belt of the Ma’nal- aa’ru stream at the tri-junction of North, North Central and Eastern Provinces. The motive of Colombo is to demographically de-link the contiguity of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. ‘System L’ of Mahaweli project targets the fertile areas in Mullaiththeevu while ‘System B’, the largest of the current projects under the Mahaweli scheme, aims to seize the resourceful interior lands of Batticaloa district.
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Led by extremist monk, Sinhala colonists launch hate campaign against Tamil officials in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Friday, 11 November 2016, 23:31 GMT]
More than 200 Sinhala colonists led by extremist Sinhala Buddhist monk Ampitiye Sumanarathna Thera in Batticaloa took to the streets on Friday with an intention to accelerate the demographic genocide against Eezham Tamils in the southwestern part of Batticaloa district. A systematic ‘hate campaign’ is being taken up by the Sinhalese monks and the colonists as a tool to threaten Tamil administrative officials in the East. The behaviour of the extremist monk captured in video is being released with this news for the perusal of the nature of the hate campaign under the genocidal ‘Sri Lanka’ paradigm, which accords ‘foremost place to Buddhism’ in its constitution with a genocidal intent against the sovereignty of the nation of Eezham Tamils in the North and East of the island.
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Austin Fernando has failed to deliver what was promised to Champoor families: EPC Councillor

[TamilNet, Saturday, 29 October 2016, 21:50 GMT]
Responding to accusations coming from the resettled Tamil families at Champoor that they were deceived to hand over their lands to the occupying SL Navy with the promise of alternative lands compensating their losses at the presence of Tamil politicians of Trincomalee, Eastern Provincial Councillor K. Nageswaran told TamilNet that the ultimate responsibility rested with the administrative system, especially with the Governor of the Eastern Province, Mr Austin Fernando. “The Governor told us that he wanted to satisfy both the SL Navy with relocating the training base and at the same time satisfy the Champoor people to regain their lands. What was promised to SL Navy was delivered in terms money and land. But, the Tamil people languish without proper compensation for their losses,” he said in an admitting interview to TamilNet.
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SL Navy declares war on Tamil fishermen in Arippu, Sinhala police joins SLN

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 19 October 2016, 19:46 GMT]
Tension has mounted in the fishing village of Arippu throughout Wednesday as the Sinhala commanding officer of the occupying SL Navy in Arippu and Chilaavaththu'rai vowed to revenge the spontaneous public action on a criminal Sinhala navy person on Tuesday night. The SL Navy person, who entered a household threatening a woman around 9:45 p.m. on Tuesday was caught and beaten up by the villagers. The remaining three members of the four-member squad have managed to escape from the villagers. The squad has been engaged in a series of robberies and misconduct causing injuries to the villagers in recent days. The squad is alleged of stabbing a husband and wife 5 days ago and robbed off gold from another family after putting a knife on the throat of a child 8 days ago, the villagers told TamilNet. The SLN person was caught red-handed on Tuesday and he was in possession of two knives.
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UN ‘peace-builders’ threaten resettled Tamils during UN Special Rapporteur's visit to Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 14 October 2016, 23:07 GMT]
A group of Sinhalese and Tamil officials of the so-called ‘Peacebuilding Fund’ (PBF) attached to the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) went to the extent of threatening ‘resettled’ Tamil families, who have been dumped at Vaazhalaay, a locality of limestone outcrops and marsh along the Tho'ndaimaa-aa'rau lagoon, when the PBF group wanted to document the so-called resettlement that has been carried out by the occupying SL military and ‘Seva Lanka’, a Sinhalese-led outfit. The families were instructed not to complain anything in video recordings, but only to praise that the SL military had helped them, the people told TamilNet after the episode on Wednesday. The PBF visit has taken place in connection with the fact-finding trip by UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, who was also visiting Jaffna this week.
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UN refugee agency discriminates against stateless Eezham Tamil refugees

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 04 October 2016, 22:43 GMT]
Around 100,000 uprooted and poverty-stricken refugees from the country of Eezham Tamils are staying in the camps in Tamil Nadu State in India. Apart from them, more than 200,000 Eezham Tamils, who are also uprooted due to the conflict in the island, are also living outside the camps in Tamil Nadu. Only 4,564 people, belonging to 1,854 families have returned back to Northern Province. Most of the people returned to the island within the last five years the UN refugee agency UNHCR complain that they have been abandoned by the agency and the authorities. People who have returned to Vavuniyaa complain that Sinhala colonisers had seized their lands and that they are now let to look after themselves without any programmes of resettlement. The UN agency was only interested in paying the travel expenses. The returnees complain that they have not heard anything from the UNCHR after that.
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People rise up against occupation of Vidaththal-theevu at DDS meeting

[TamilNet, Saturday, 01 October 2016, 23:36 GMT]
Former Deputy Chairman of Maanthai West Divisional Council S. Soundaranayagam and rural representatives of various organisations across Maanthai West division in Mannaar on Friday confronted the co-chairs of Divisional Development Committee meeting and the Divisional Secretary of Maanthai West against the structural genocide prevailing in their division. Unable to defend the Colombo system, the co-chairs were forced to conclude the meeting with the decision of instructing the Divisional Secretary M. Sriskanthakumar to officially inform the SL Navy to immediately vacate Vidaththal-theevu jetty and the properties belonging to resettled Tamil fishing families.
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