Resettelement of Tamils confronted on several fronts in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 February 2016, 22:05 GMT]
Eezham Tamil villagers along the border villages in Batticaloa, especially in Vellaa-ve'li DS division, complain that all their efforts to resettle and revive their traditional villages are being confronted on several fronts. Tamil families that are dependent on freshwater fishing are unable to withstand Sinhala intruders exploiting their catch. Farmers are robbed off their cattle by Sinhala colonisers. On top of everything, wild elephant attacks taking place during the nights have dashed the hopes of sustaining their lives and properties in 60 villages, the affected people say.

Five villages surrounding Kachchatkodi Swami-malai have been severely affected in 2015.

Last year alone, 7 people have lost their lives, two villagers have become psychologically ill, 24 houses/huts have been smashed and several useful crops and trees have been destroyed due to the attacks by wild elephants that roam in groups during the nights.

Following the protests by the villagers, the Divisional Secretariat officials announced that the affected villagers would receive 20,000 rupees as compensation per family. But, even that token amount has not been distributed to the people as promised, the villagers complain.

Thaanthaa-malai, Kachchatkodi-Swami-malai, 40th Veddai, Adaichcha-kal, Reddbarna village and Ka'ndiyanaa'ru are the villages that have been severely affected in recent months.

The people complain that all the challenges they face are artificially created conditions to evict them permanently from their villages. Sinhala colonisers and the Colombo State are behind the structural genocide against them, they say, also citing the hostile acts by Sinhala paramilitary known as ‘homeguards’ and the presence of extremist Buddhist monks in the area.



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