By Ayesha Zuhair
Niyas hails from New Moor Street in Jaffna where he worked as a transport manager. His job afforded him a respectable standard of living despite its demanding work schedules and life in the peninsula had been largely peaceful. That was, of course, until the latent hostilities started to give way into ethnic warfare in the late 1980s.
While the LTTE had given a 48-hour ultimatum for the Muslims in the other Northern townships, those in Jaffna - like Niyas - were given just two hours to leave or face extermination. They were permitted to take only Rs. 300 for transportation purposes and along with a few items of clothing.
With hardly any time on their hands, most of the Muslims from Jaffna left as they were, taking no belongings with them. Others tried to conceal their valuables but under the watchful eye of the LTTE, just a handful of them were able to 'smuggle' their valuables out of the North. Niyas was among the vast majority who were not fortunate enough to be able to escape the LTTE's careful scrutiny and with just Rs. 300 in his hands, he left behind his much-loved city and joined over 100,000 Northern Muslims in their southward quest. As displaced persons, they were temporarily absorbed into towns such as Anuradhapura and Kurunegela, but the majority wound up in Puttalam.
What were then considered to be temporary settlements have now become permanent abodes for these unfortunate victims of the LTTE's horrific programme of ethnic cleansing.
Almost 17 years later after the mass eviction, Puttalam still houses approximately 63,000 displaced persons across 141 welfare centres, from the five districts of the Northern Province which were controlled by the LTTE in 1990. Over the years, Puttalam has also played host to some Tamil and Sinhala IDPs who have been driven away from their homes in Batticaloa and Trincomalee due to open warfare.
As some studies have pointed out, hosting a large IDP population has placed a great deal of pressure on the local services as they were not proportionally developed to meet the needs of the populace. Moreover, it has had a negative impact on the relations between the IDPs and the host community who originally welcomed the displaced people.
Puttalam can never be considered 'home' to the Northern Muslims as 34-year-old Faseela Mohamed, a mother of two, vouched. "I was born in Jaffna and that will always be my home. Even though the people of Puttalam have been helpful to us, I don't think they'll be happy to have us here forever," Faseela noted.
This fact was also affirmed by M. S. M. Suhar, Principal of Abdeen Muslim Maha Vidyalaya, a rudimentary school recently set up exclusively for displaced children. "It is like having a guest at home. You will welcome them for a short while, but you will not be happy to have them forever. After all, there has been huge constrain on resources ever since the mass influx of refugees," the principal reasoned.
Abdeen Muslim Maha Vidyalaya, which opened its doors on January 02 this year for children living in the Thambapani Camp, was set up under the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services. It conducts classes from Grade One to Five and has a student population of 120. The teachers work at the school on a voluntary basis as there is no provision for them to obtain permanent teaching appointments, due to the fact that the school does not come under the purview of the Ministry of Education.
The volunteer teachers receive a monthly remuneration of Rs. 2000 which is inadequate to meet the cost of transportation alone. On average, these teachers commute a distance of 15 km to reach the interior locality of the school and the trishaws which bring them there charge competitive high rates.
Abdeen Maha Vidyalaya is among five new schools that were established recently, the others being Hasban Vidyalaya, Rizvan Vidyalaya, Ayub Vidyala and Ansari Vidyalaya. These schools have very basic facilities and there is no proper authority to monitor the standard of education and extend the infrastructural, technical, financial and methodological support that they require.
Mr. Suhar, the Principal of Abdeen Maha Vidyalaya, himself a victim of the LTTE's ethnic cleansing campaign, also pointed out that the Puttalam district was at a severe disadvantage where university entrance is concerned. This is due to the fact that despite the demographic changes that have taken place, the district quota allotment of the University Grants Commission has remained unchanged.
As a result, the Muslims in particular are seriously disadvantaged because of a higher number of students competing for the same amount of university slots, Mr. Suhar emphasised. "Earlier, a large number of Muslim students entered the universities but now that trend has completely changed thanks to the outdated UGC circular that continues to be used. We have made a number of representations in this regard, but all our efforts have proven futile," a clearly agitated Suhar explained.
For the IDPs in Puttalam, every day is an enormous struggle to make ends meet. Unemployment is a massive problem for the majority of them who rely largely on seasonal demand for labour such as work in the salterns and various other odd jobs. They live in Cadjan huts, very often with two to three families crouched into one little hut.
Indeed the conditions in which these IDPs live are nothing short of appalling. As A. C. Miskath, a B.A. undergraduate at the Peradeniya University said, "Very little has changed for the vast number of refugees since they came here in 1990." Miskath came to Puttalam from Mannar as a young boy. He is among the handful who have been able to lift themselves out of dire straits - thanks in no small proportion to the education he has received.
"Having lived under the same conditions most of my growing years, I know the psychological trials that one has to endure in these camps. There is so much of hardship and little relief in sight. Sadly, the next generation has grown up in these camps," Miskath explained.
Proper sanitation facilities are another critical shortcoming. In the Saltern camp, 20 public toilets were set up by an NGO but when land was claimed by an individual IDP family, common ownership was lost. The lack of a sanitation system is particularly problematic for women for whom privacy is a major concern.
Moreover, although dry rations are being provided by the government, there are a number of problems being encountered in relation to these items. Safeera Latheef (35) at the Thambapani Camp explained that they are frequently given poor quality food at exorbitant rates. A family is entitled to rations such as milk food, rice grain, dhal, sugar and soap worth Rs. 1,260 a month but the cooperatives jack up rates unfairly to profit from their plight, Safeera alleged.
Safeera's husband left to Saudi Arabia in search of greener pastures, leaving her with their three children. She would like to see her children well-educated, but she does not dare to dream for fear of being disappointed - all over again.
At the moment, my main concern is to provide good meals for them but someday I wish they would be well-educated and employed. But I don't want to have too many expectations because expectations have only brought me disappointment, the reflective Safeera said. She added, "I would love to go back to Mannar but I know that it will never happen. It is like hoping for the impossible."
Naseeha, a 22-year-old IDP who also lives in the Thambapani Camp came to Puttalam from Kekirawa in 1993. She can't recall the eviction, but according to her, that doesn't lessen the anger she harbours in any way. "It feels like we have been robbed. If not for the LTTE, we wouldn't be facing the suffering the way we are today," she insisted. Her 20-year-old sister Nisreena chipped in, "If it is safe, we'd definitely like to go back to Mannar."
After the Ceasefire Agreement was signed in February 2002, a number of these displaced families returned to their homes in the North but with the intensification of the armed conflict, they have all returned to Puttalam.
According to Y. L. M. Navavi, Commissioner of the Secretariat for Northern Displaced Muslims, around 180 families from Jaffna and 115 families from Mannar have returned. He stated that since the situation in the North does not permit their return, the only option is to settle the IDPs permanently in Puttalam and look into their welfare.
While acknowledging that there are a number of shortcomings, Mr. Navavi asserted that the Ministry of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services is committed to uplifting IDP living standards. The initiatives taken include the provision of electricity, water and dry rations as well as education for displaced children. He denied any knowledge of the cooperatives charging inflated rates from the IDPs.
Mr. Navavi also said that Cabinet approval has been given for a housing project funded by the World Bank. Even though the approval was granted on July 26 2005, work is yet to get underway.
The overall slow pace of development is indeed cause for concern. It is clear that housing, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, compensation for property lost and proper land titles are areas which require immediate attention. Such measures are urgently needed if the long lost flame of hope is to be reignited in the Puttalam IDPs, who feel that they have been twice betrayed.
Courtasy : Dailymirror
Comments - Mine
I believe the LTTE has apologized for this atrocity now. But it is too little too late after the deed has been done. Words of apology is not acceptable & will not solve this problem. The only words of apology that will be acceptable is for the LTTE to allow these Muslims to return back to their original dwelling. But I don't think that this will happen until a solution is found to the conflict.
After LTTE carrying out this dastardly act of ethnic cleansing what right have the Tamil community to CRY about whatever discriminations that they are facing from the majority Sinhalese community. They have LOST that right. It has to be mentioned that the Muslims of Sri Lanka have nothing to do with whatever discriminations that the Tamils were facing from the Sinhalese community from independence.
Until a solution is found the Muslims from the rest of the country can do their bit to make the life of these unfortunate Muslims comfortable as possible in their new dwelling. And we need to keep highlighting this tragedy lest the Muslims in the country forget about it and also to ensure that this particular issue is taken into consideration by the govt in finding any solution for the ethnic conflict.
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