MAG has been working in Sri Lanka since 2002, and currently operates in both northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Between 2002 and 2006, MAG was based in Kilinochchi in the north and Batticaloa in the east. The resumption of conflict in 2006 meant that all activities in the north were suspended. Since then, MAG’s work was exclusively focussed in the Eastern Province until early 2009.
Operations restarted in the Northern Province during April 2009 after a break of over two years during the conflict in the region. Activities in the north are focussed on releasing land for return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their home villages.
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Menik Farm IDP camp near the town of Vavuniya. [Photos: Gordon Bacon / IRC] |
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MAG Community Liaison staff work with communities to identify and tackle the threat of remnants of conflict. [Photo: MAG Sri Lanka] Top: A Bozena-4 machine operator working in Pallaikuli village, Mannar District in northern Sri Lanka. This village was abandoned during the conflict in 2008. The MAG team uncovered 94 anti-personnel mines and 19 items of unexploded ordnance in the immediate surrounds of the village during June 2009. [Photo: Frank Masche / MAG] |
Mine action
survey and clearance has been identified by UNHCR and the Government of
Sri Lanka as a key prerequisite of this returns process.
Initially MAG surveyed five villages in Mannar District in April 2009, and the area has been declared safe for the families to return.
MAG now plans to expand its activities in the north throughout the remainder of the year in support of the initiative to return 80 per cent of IDPs back to their home areas by the end of 2009.
Partnerships and coordination
Mine action in Sri Lanka is coordinated through the National Steering Committee for Mine Action (NSCMA), which is supported by UNDP. MAG works in coordination with the NSCMA and also with District Mine Action Offices in Vavuniya (north) and Batticaloa (east).
Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries of MAG Sri Lanka’s work are resident and returning populations, government authorities and local and national NGOs working to reconstruct affected areas. Principally, land is used for resettlement and redevelopment, including work undertaken by other NGOs who were previously unable to access the land due to the threats posed by the remnants of the former conflict. Additionally, the cleared land is used for agriculture and grazing, as well as traditional sustainable livelihoods such as brick-making and cane-cutting.
Donor partnership opportunities
MAG is actively seeking funding to enable the programme to meet the projected needs in the north.
MAG would like to express its gratitude and sincere thanks to the following donors currently contributing to the Sri Lanka programme: Actiefonds Mijnen Ruimen; AusAID; UK Department for International Development (DFID); Good Gifts; Stichting Vluchteling; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State.
June 2009
