Speaking at the Vavuniya North Regional Coordination Committee, Ravikaran said that Tamils in Vanni have been recently displaced and resettled in the area after a long struggle. The agricultural lands of the residents now appear as barren forests. These lands have been encroached by the Forest Department without prior notice whilst the officers of the Forest Department were involved in boundary stone activities without informing the owners of the land, the respective District Officers, Divisional Officers or Grama Niladharis.
Ravikaran explained that before 2009 only 22,206 acres of land was controlled in Mullaitivu District, but after 2009, the Forest Department now controls 43,500 acres of land, including the lands owned by the Tamil residents. Ravikaran pointed out that land the LTTE previously protected the areas but are now being enriched upon by the state.
Ravikaran stated that:
"We continue to insist that the lands seized forcefully from the Tamil civilians must be returned. We will continue to stress the release of our people's lands with the newly formed government. The country does need forest resources, but thinking that the entire forest area of Sri Lanka should be created from Vanni region is a completely wrong stance. The people will sustain their livelihoods only if the lands have been released".
"The Development coordination head, Deputy Minister Uppali Samarasinghe, should take a note of the aggressive encroachments made by the Forest Department. He must work together with the President, the Prime Minister, and those involved with the Forest Department to take action and find a permanent solution to this issue" Ravikaran added.
Since the end of the armed conflict in 2009, successive Sri Lankan governments have used the forest and archaeology departments to intensify the Sinhalisation of the Tamil homeland. Sri Lanka continue to grab lands from Tamil and Muslims to alter the demography of the North-East.
