IDMC Report Indicates the Sri Lankan IDPs and Returnees Remain in Need of Protection and Assistance

The report highlights the increasing physical security of returnees because of the contamination of land by landmines UXO. “In the north, an area of more than 550 square kilometers (km2) was estimated to be still contaminated as of August 2010, and according to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Economic Development, it will take 15 years to clear this area”. The report further shows that Returnee women are more vulnerable to physical security due to absence of private toilet facilities and they are forced to venture into areas still contaminated by landmines. Secondly freedom of movement has been followed arbitrarily across camps. Land and property issues remain a constant obstacle to the sustainable return of IDPs as most of the people have lost documentation papers relating to land ownership in the times of the conflict. This report opens up the constant social tensions that the returnees have to confront and touches upon the areas that need immediate attention.

To read the full report please visit:-

http://www.internal-displacement.org/8025708F004BE3B1/%28httpInfoFiles%29/3E9AA76A742C878FC125781800313251/$file/SriLanka_Overview_Jan2011.pdf