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Sri Lanka’s occupying police have opened a new holiday resort in Mannar, reinforcing concerns over the continued militarisation of the Tamil homeland.
The Sunset Holiday Resort, constructed next to the Vankalai Police Station, was officially opened on Monday by Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya. Senior police officials from across the North, including Northern Province Senior DIG Thilak C.A. Dhanapala, Wanni District DIG Samantha Wijesekera, and several Superintendents of Police, attended the event.
According to police reports, the facility was built using the labour contribution of officers from the Mannar Divisional Engineering Division, with funding secured through divisional grants. The resort is intended to serve as a recreational space exclusively for police personnel.
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The new facility comes amid growing criticism of the state’s ongoing militarisation of the North-East. Tamil civil society and human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned the construction of military and police-run hotels, resorts, and farms on occupied land, particularly while displaced Tamil families remain unable to reclaim their homes and livelihoods.
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Mannar has been heavily militarised since the end of the armed conflict, with vast areas of land under army and police control. The establishment of leisure facilities for occupying forces, rather than the return of land to its rightful Tamil owners, has been seen as part of a wider project of state control and Sinhala colonisation in the region.
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Despite repeated calls from Tamils for demilitarisation and international accountability, Colombo has instead continued to expand the presence and privileges of its security forces across the Tamil homeland.