“Thanks to MAG clearing my house and my paddy land, I can move back to my ancestral lands and begin cultivating the land,” says 74-year-old Rasaiya Ragasingham from the conflict-hit village of Palliakuli.
Palliakuli was on the front line during the civil war, its communities amongst the first to be displaced by the conflict. Forced to live away from their homes for more than two years, they suffered many hardships, including a daily fear for their lives and inadequate food and shelter.
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Like many, Rasaiya left in September 2007, moving between Arthimodai, Chethawadhi, Natuwan, Murippu, Anaivilunthan, Selvanagar and Mannar.
Even though the civil war ended in May last year, he could not return immediately due to the presence of large numbers of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) – a legacy of the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) defending the area against Sri Lankan Army attacks for almost three months.
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Rasaiya tending the banana plants and chilli plants he has planted in his garden. |
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With the rice he has successfully harvested. Top: Rasaiya digs an irrigation channel to drain the family’s paddy land. [Photos: MAG Sri Lanka] |
Between May and October 2009, MAG cleared 276 anti-personnel mines1 and 212 items of UXO from the Palliakuli area. Eight families, comprising 34 individuals, have been able to return as a result.
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After suffering the effects of the conflict for many years, Rasaiya is happy to be back in his birthplace with his family.
In 1990, two of his three sons left for the United Kingdom because they were afraid of the LTTE. Then in 2007, the LTTE came to capture his daughter Ashanti’s two teenage sons, causing them to flee to Malaysia.
Ashanti returned this January with one son and her daughter, and nowadays helps her father farm their 20 acres of paddy land. Her children are back in school in nearby Adampan.
Says Rasaiya, “My family is reunited now that we have a home to live in, and my sons will visit me next month for the first time in 20 years as they are no longer afraid to come back.”
IOM (International Organization for Migration) and Sri Lankan organisation Sarvodaya have helped the family by providing them with building materials for their house and rebuilding their well.
The family’s last harvest brought them 800 bags of rice, which they sold for around 1,500 rupees (about £9) per bag. They have also begun growing fruits and vegetables, including banana trees, corn and chilli plants.
[1 These were ‘Jonny 99’ landmines, the small pressure-activated blast anti-personnel mines produced by the LTTE.]
Reporting by Markandu Sinthujan, MAG Sri Lanka Community Liaison Team Leader
Links:
- Latest news and case studies from Sri Lanka
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- IOM (International Organization for Migration) [external site]
- Sarvodaya [external site]
17 May 2010
MAG thanks the following donors to the Sri Lanka programme: AusAID; Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Stichting Vluchteling; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State. Click on Tags below for related articles.
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