More than 600 acres of paddy lands historically cultivated by Tamil communities in Vedivaiththakallu, Thirivaichchakulam, and surrounding border villages in Vavuniya North are reportedly being encroached upon at an alarming rate by Sinhalese settlers, sparking renewed concern among local residents.
The lands, long held as ancestral property by Tamil villagers, are now said to be occupied unlawfully by individuals with no legal documentation or recognised ownership. What began as isolated incidents of encroachment has reportedly expanded significantly, now stretching to the Vedivaiththakallu junction and beyond.
Following the end of the armed conflict in 2009, these once-inhabited and cultivated lands were reclassified as protected forest areas by Sri Lanka’s Department of Forest Conservation. This reclassification, Tamil residents argue, prevented thousands of war-displaced families from returning to their homes, reclaiming ownership, or resuming the agricultural livelihoods that had sustained them for generations.
More recently, these lands are believed to have been transferred from the Forest Department to the Mahaweli Authority—an institution that has long been linked to state-sponsored Sinhalisation programmes in the Tamil homeland. Local Tamil villagers now allege that under the Mahaweli Authority’s tacit approval, Sinhalese settlers have begun occupying the area in what they describe as a coordinated and state-facilitated operation.
Community members say the encroachment has intensified in recent months, with settlers clearing land, establishing structures, and initiating cultivation, all while Tamil families, many of whom continue to reside in temporary shelters or are internally displaced, are barred from accessing their ancestral property.
This is the latest in a series of land grabs across the North-East that Tamil civil society and political representatives say reflects a broader pattern of demographic engineering and militarised land appropriation. Rights groups have repeatedly highlighted the role of state institutions in undermining Tamil ownership through legal and bureaucratic measures, often reclassifying Tamil lands as forest, archaeological, or Mahaweli-administered property to deny resettlement.
