After almost three years of living in displacement camps, over 100 families have been able to return to their homes in Sri Lanka's Rice Bowl region. Thanks to MAG, these families have a real opportunity to begin rebuilding their lives after years of war.
One of the returnees is 70-year-old Pilippu Sinthathurai. Before the war, he was working as a farmer and carpenter. Mr. Sinthathurai made a good living with his trade, and the village was one of the most developed areas in the Mannar region of north west Sri Lanka.
Sadly, from the mid-1980s the community has repeatedly been forced to flee their village, due to periods of heavy fighting and the threat of being forcibly recruited to join the rebel group the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Since September 2007, Mr. Sinthathurai has been moving between displacement camps throughout the north of Sri Lanka to escape the fighting.
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Clearing a house in Adampan |
Unfortunately, even returning home has not been problem-free for Mr. Sinthathurai. His home had been badly damaged, and he and his family must rely on the limited money given to them by the Government as returnees.
However, thanks to MAG, Mr. Sinthathurai is hopeful for the future. "It is up to us to get our lives back on track," he said. "MAG is currently clearing my paddy field area and once it is safe we will start farming again, as only through cultivation can we begin to develop and increase our income."
In October 2009, MAG’s survey and clearance teams began working in the village of Adampan, which is famed for its paddy fields. It was unknown just how badly contaminated the land was with landmines and unexploded ordinance (UXO). MAG's survey teams began careful analysis of the area, and in just a few weeks they were able to release 293,443 square meters of land that was not contaminated but that people had previously been too frightened to use.
Surveys showed, however, that parts of the land in Adampan did contain some of the million or so landmines believed to have been planted throughout Sri Lanka during the 27-year-long civil war.
MAG's clearance teams went to work in the area and discovered 109 items of lethal UXO and 155 anti-personnel landmines buried in the soil. All of these deadly items were safely removed and destroyed, releasing another 395,525 square meters of land back to the local community allowing the families safe access to their land and homes once again.
As part of their operations in Adampan, MAG also cleared homes belonging to 30 families from the village, meaning they could return immediately, knowing they were safe.
Mrs. Sasikaran Josephin Croos returned to Adampan with her son and nephew during the middle of a MAG operation to clear her house of any dangerous items of UXO.
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They stayed in temporary accommodation until it was declared safe, but 49-year-old Mrs. Croos wasted no time in getting their lives restarted. She immediately invested some money in opening a small shop which is already bringing in some income.
As soon as MAG cleared and returned safe land to Mrs. Croos she planned to begin farming rice again in the hopes of regaining her former income of 25-30,000 rupees per month.
"My family faced immense hardships when we were displaced and in the camps," said Mrs. Croos. "Now that we are home, we have a chance to increase our earnings and take forward our futures. I want our country and the world to be free of landmines."
MAG would like to express its thanks to the following donor to its Sri Lanka operations: AusAID; Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); UK Department for International Development (DFID); Good Gifts; The Kirby Laing Foundation; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State; Stichting Vluchteling; TUUT Charitable Trust.
