Sri Lanka’s president blamed “extreme elements” in Tamil areas of the island for refusing to accept housing allocated by his government and of instead backing a “demand [for] lands from other areas”, in a meeting with UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman.

According to the official Sri Lankan President’s Media Division, during his meeting “President Sirisena pointed out that few extreme elements in the North compel the innocent poor people in displacement camps not to accept land and houses offered to them by the government and to demand lands from other areas”.

His comments came after the leader of the Tamil National Alliance R Sampanthan highlighted the military occupation of land in the North-East, quoting him as saying “there is no justification for the government not to release these lands” in a meeting with Mr Feltman.

Mr Sirisena went on to also talk of “political opportunists in the South” with the visiting UN official. 

He also “urged the UN to increase the intake of Sri Lankan soldiers to the UN Peace Keeping Force”. In New York last week, the deputy spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said the UN is to ensure soldiers from Sri Lanka are vetted prior to joining the UN Peacekeeping force, after Sri Lankan troops were found to have trafficked and sexually abused minors in former UN peacekeeping roles.

During a 2015 visit, Mr Feltman concluded that "credible, tangible progress" in reconciliation, accountability and human rights is a "prerequisite to the achievement of sustainable peace and prosperity in Sri Lanka".