Tamil landowners from Keppapulavu in the Mullaitivu district have once again spoken out against the continued military occupation of their private lands, 16 years after the end of the armed conflict.
Despite repeated protests and petitions, the Sri Lankan army continues to control vast swathes of land that were once home to Tamil families. Residents say successive governments have failed to deliver on promises to return their land, and the current administration under Anura Kumara Dissanayake is no exception.
During the 2024 election campaign, Dissanayake’s alliance vowed that “the people’s land would be returned to the people.” But more than seven months into his presidency, the lands in Keppapulavu remain unreleased.
Vivekananthan Indraani, a landowner in Keppapulavu said they had met politicians, travelled to Colombo, and submitted written appeals to the District Secretariat. Still, they have not received any reply.
In November last year, Keppapulavu landowners met with Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya to raise the issue directly. In March, they travelled to Colombo to submit a petition at the Presidential Secretariat and also handed over a written request to the Mullaitivu District Secretariat. None of these efforts have yielded a response.
Indraani revealed that the Sri Lankan military continues to occupy her property, harvesting coconuts and profiting from the land, while she and other Tamil owners remain barred from even accessing their own homes.
According to residents, 59.5 acres of residential land and over 100 acres of estate land remain under army control. These areas, once inhabited and cultivated by Tamil civilians, have been under military occupation since the end of the war in 2009.
As the military continues to profit from land seized during the war, Tamil families are still waiting to return home.
