1990 – 2020: Thirty years of displacement for fishermen at Neethavan IDP camp, Sri Lanka
March 19,2020
| Source:
Law and Society Trust
Located off the Kankesanthurai Road in Mallakam, Jaffna, is the Neethavan camp for internally-displaced persons (IDPs), or what is conveniently referred to by authorities as the Neethavan Welfare Centre. Its residents are families who were forced to leave their homes due to the conflict, when combat between the Sri Lankan army and the LTTE escalated on the peninsula in the early 1990s.
The families living here are those whose homes were located close to the northernmost coast, currently within the bounds of the Palaly High Security Zone (HSZ). Some of them were relocated to the camp at the time of displacement, while others were displaced as far as the Wanni, and returned to Jaffna in the mid 90s.
Before their displacement, their proximity to the coastline meant they engaged in traditional fishing as a means of gaining an income and providing for their families. Fishermen used the shores of Myliddy, just minutes from their homes, to moor their boats and also set them out to sea.
The HSZ has severely restricted access and movement of the people to their traditional homelands, and therefore to their means of livelihood. The Zone and the Myliddy fisheries harbor, now a commercial fishing port, means that these small-scale fishermen are forced to take up more difficult alternatives. Some men travel as far as Mannar everyday, a 124 kilometre journey or four-hour roundtrip by road, to engage in fishing to earn money.
At present, there are 61 families and 261 people in the camp. They all use 9 units of common toilets and bathing space. Two water tanks, operated by motor, supply water to all the residents. Each family pays Rs.100 monthly for the motor, which can be considered as their water ‘bill’. Electricity can cost about Rs. 500 monthly, for each house.
Midwives make regular visits to pregnant mothers, when they have been identified by a public hospital or physician.
When these families were displaced in the 90s, they were provided with building materials by the state, from which they were to construct their own houses in the camp. At that time, non-governmental aid organisations distributed food and clothing rations regularly, for the first few years of their displacement. This aid came to an end in 2009.
In addition to the delay in Samurdhi payment, the amount received is also barely enough to meet a family’s basic needs. The head of a family of five stated that they receive Rs. 3,000 every three months; this calculates to about Rs. 600 per person for that period, and therefore to Rs. 200 per person per month. For families who have both school-going children and ageing individuals, this ration is far from adequate.
Previously, the children in these families attended schools in Myliddy and Valikamam, closer to their homes. Currently, they attend schools close to Mallakam, where the camp is located. An issue facing families with children of this age is the expenses required for education.
Several parents share that the teaching in the upper grades in schools is not adequate, with teachers either not completing syllabi, or not attending classes at all. Therefore, several are meant to rely on tuition classes to gain a complete knowledge of the syllabus. This, in addition to a necessity for their future examinations, also comes with a social pressure, because all the other students - those who don’t live in the camp - are seen to be attending these classes.
Families living in the camp are now reaching three decades in living in displacement. Two generations have now been born since they came to live here, and these individuals have only ever known the camp as ‘home’. It is necessary to consider the likelihood of their return home, in the current political climate. A complete or partial release of land currently under the Palaly HSZ would be required for these families to be able to regain their land. However, demilitarisation is the anti-thesis of the current government’s agenda, and troops have already been empowered with more responsibilities in civilian administration and surveillance. In this setting, families believe the sliver of hope they had for return under the previous government has now slipped away.
Theme(s): Communities and Organisations.
