During these recent months, reports suggest that the state and the military in Sri Lanka is actively engineering opinions and demographics through blatant oppression.

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216 resettled families from Arafa Nagar have been evicted by the military yesterday without any prior notice. These Muslim families have been living as refuges since 1985 due to LTTE harassment in Muttur town. After the August 2006 fight in Muttur they were moved back by the Military from Kandale to a temporary shelter in Paali Nagar.  In March they were given permission to return to their homes in Arafa Nagar by a commander who was then in charge of the near by military camp. The families with the help on Muslim Aid cleared the jungle and put up huts on the foundation of their houses that were leveled.

On 10^th August a new commanding officer has walked in to the village and asked the families to evacuate immediately since they are occupying parts of the High Security Zone. Women and men pleaded with him to give some time since they have invested all what they had to cultivate their lands again. Many of them have also borrowed money and bought agricultural equipment on loan. However the military commander has told under the March HSZ circular he can shoot them all and asked only one person per family to stay for an hour to take their possessions and others to evacuate immediately.

Currently these families live in a temporary school building in Paali Nagar and no help has reached them so far.

Meanwhile, a consortium of civic society organizations have reported from Sri Lanka that prior to the visit of UN Under Secretary General on Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. John Holmes to Sri Lanka, the military commander presented a gag order to NGOs and civic society groups. The day before Mr. Holme’s visit to Jaffna, the military commander called for a meeting at Palaly military headquarters, at which NGOs and civil society representatives were instructed not to refer to human rights issues and to restrict themselves to issues of humanitarian assistance during their meeting with Mr. Holmes. The military told the NGO and civil society representatives present that they, the military, would brief Mr. Holmes about the human rights and security situation, while the Government Agent would brief Mr. Holmes about the situation of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

An objective ground assessment of the situation in Sri Lanka, carried out by a person of his standing, would have been a critical component of any future discussions on a return to peace in Sri Lanka.  Sadly, however, we have learned that Mr. Holme’s attempt to meet with civil society representatives during his visit to Jaffna on August 7 was marred by the heavy presence of the military at the Public Library, Jaffna, where the meeting was held.  

Humanitarian and human rights groups in Jaffna have expressed their serious reservations about this interference by the military and regret their inability to meet Mr. Holmes in a more private manner, which would have enabled them to freely share their views, perspectives and experiences with him.  

Such a process completely undermines existing practice in which visiting UN officials meet with civil society groups during country visits, insisting on privacy for such meetings, even going as far as declining invitations when these conditions are not met. Given the high levels of insecurity, that include killings and abductions, faced by humanitarian agenices, human rights organizations and other civil society organisations we are also deeply concerned of the security implications for the actors who were invited to the meetings.   

The steps taken by the military in Jaffna to restrict Mr. Holmes’ access to information reiterate concerns in the international community regarding transparency and accountability of the government and of the military when it comes to both human rights and humanitarian issues in the conflict-affected areas of Sri Lanka.