A section of residents from Keppapilavu in Mullaitivu staged a May Day protest demanding the release of lands still occupied by the military 17 years after the end of the armed conflict, The Island reported on Tuesday.
Protesters reiterated their long-standing demand for the return of land seized by the military in 2009 to establish a camp. Holding placards and chanting slogans, they said their struggle extends beyond land ownership and is a fight for dignity, livelihood and the restoration of community life disrupted since 2009.
According to the protesters, 171 acres are yet to be returned, comprising 59.5 acres of residential land and 111 acres of agricultural land. The residential areas once supported more than 55 families and included homes, schools, places of worship and shared community spaces. Despite limited releases under successive governments, substantial areas remain under military control.
Residents said that since the current National People’s Power administration assumed office, multiple appeals have been made through formal channels — including submissions to the Presidential Secretariat and the Mullaitivu District Secretariat — but these efforts have yielded no meaningful progress.
Protesters called on Sri Lankan authorities and local officials to take immediate and concrete steps to return the entirety of the occupied land, enabling displaced families to resettle and rebuild their lives without further delay.
For more than 17 years, Keppapilavu residents have sustained a continuous campaign of protests, petitions and advocacy efforts calling for the right to resettle on their original lands.
The protests coincide with fresh diplomatic engagement: ITAK MPs from the Eastern Province met Canadian High Commissioner Isabelle Martin this week to raise similar post-war land and livelihoods concerns. Civil society groups have separately called on the government to release Tamil political prisoners still held under the PTA.
Source: The Island.
