A new report by People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) examines the Sri Lankan state’s ongoing project of Sinhalisation in the North-East, with a detailed case study documenting land dispossession and violence targeting Tamil dairy farmers in Mayilaththamadu–Mathavanai.
The organisation's latest report 'State-sponsored Sinhalisation in the North-East: The Anti-Development Machine' details how state-driven settlement and irrigation schemes operate under the guise of 'development' in the North-East. PEARL's analysis highlights that Sinhalisation is 'anti-developmental' as these schemes have repeatedly failed to yield economic returns and drained public resources.
In the report, PEARL focuses on Mayilaththamadu-Mathavanai, in Batticaloa, where Tamil farmers have been demanding the return of traditional grazing lands which have been encroached upon by Sinhala settlers.
Tamil farmers have been farming in Mayilaththamadu-Mathavanai for three generations but have faced decades of systematic land grabs. Since the end of the armed conflict in 2009, the area has been subject to increased efforts by Sinhala settlers, backed by the state, to appropriate their lands.
In recent years, cattle belonging to Tamil farmers have been attacked and killed by Sinhala settlers through the use of poison and explosives. The report notes that between 2013 and 2024, over 7,000 cows died "due to the violent actions of the encroachers".
Tamil farmers marked 730 days of protest in September 2025.
Over the last two years, Tamil farmers have been protesting peacefully to demand the return of 3,025 hectares of land. However, their demands have not yet been met.
"This unequal treatment not only undermines Tamil livelihoods but also reinforces long-standing political and social fractures rooted in Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarianism, obstructing island-wide economic recovery," the report states.
The organisation stressed that these findings underscore the urgent necessity of Tamil self-determination, arguing that only genuine Tamil control over land, resources, and political decision-making can protect communities from coercive state-led domination.
PEARL has called on the international community, including UN member states, to recognise Sinhalisation as a systematic state policy, take urgent action to halt state-sponsored land grabs, advance meaningful international accountability mechanisms in light of repeated domestic failures, and support Tamil calls for self-determination.
Read the full report here.