Hundreds of Tamils staying in lodges across the capital Colombo were evicted at gun point and forcibly returned to the Northeast by the Sri Lankan security forces on Thursday, June 7.
In overnight operations, described by human rights organisations as tantamount to ‘ethnic cleansing’, Sri Lankan police raided number of lodges from Kochichkade down to Wellawatte across the city and forced the Tamils dwelling their onto waiting buses to be transported to Vavuniya in the north and Trincomalee and Batticaloa in the east.
The forcible eviction of innocent Tamils drew widespread condemnation from human rights organisations and foreign governments.
Initially the Sri Lankan state attempted to justify its actions citing national security.
“We are doing this to protect the people and because of a threat to national security” Inspector General of Police Victor Perera told reporters prior to the eviction.
However the human right organisations, opposition politicians and international community branded the exercise as ethnic cleansing and gross human right violation.
“This is like ethnic cleansing and we strongly condemn it.” said Sirithunga Jayasuriya, chairman of the Civil Monitoring Committee.
Nothing could be more inflammatory in Sri Lanka's polarized climate than identifying people by ethnicity and kicking them out of the capital," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Following outcry from local and international bodies, the Government defence spokesman Keheliya Rambukwelle tried to portray the operation as ‘voluntary’ rather than ‘forced’. He said the Tamils had “voluntarily come forward to be sent out of Colombo," and that the GoSL was transporting them "free of charge."
Then the government attempted distance itself from the operation and promised a thorough investigation.
"Allegations that officials exceeded their authority in implementing this initiative will be thoroughly investigated and appropriate remedial action taken, including disciplinary action against any wrong doing on the part of any government official," president Mahinda Rajapakse said in a statement.
However as criticism mounted the government caved in and apologised.
"The government regrets this and it should never have been done," Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake said at a press conference in Colombo.
"We accept responsibility," he said, and added it would not happen again.
"We accept responsibility," he said, and added it would not happen again.
On May 31 the authorities ordered the owners of 68 lodges in Pettah (Peaddai) Police Division in Colombo to immediately expel around 5000 Tamil tenants from Northeast and Upcountry to their “native places” within 24 hours.
And on June 7 armed security personnel raided lodgers occupied by Tamils and woke up old and young and ordered them to board buses without carrying any food, clothes or money.
According to press reports 291 men and 85 women were sent off in seven buses to front line districts that are volatile and have seen heavy fighting in recent weeks.
Yathavan, a hotel owner's son said the police often come to the hotel in the early morning to check the registry, particularly on days when soldiers were killed in the country, but this time was different.
”They said, Pack your bags, we have to send you back to your own place,”
Many people were given less than half an hour to pack all their belongings and board waiting buses.
"Many lodge managers and the remaining tenants complained to us that people were given less than half an hour to pack all their belongings and board the CTB [Ceylon Transport Board] buses that were parked outside these lodges.” said the Free Media Movement in a letter to the Sri Lankan President.”
“They were also not told their exact destination - only that the return to their homes was being 'arranged'," it added.
A kidney transplant patient was forced out of bed and bundled into a bus despite pleas by his wife that the man needed regular medication in Colombo. Some were not even allowed to change out of their night clothes, use the toilets or take all their belongings.
"We were not allowed to change our clothes or even use the toilet," one of the expelled Tamils told a television station.
Another expelled Tamil, 65 years old Rasamma said she knelt before the four policemen standing at her bedroom door, and touched their feet to ask for mercy. They didn't listen, reported Associated Press.
“We were not told where we were being taken, she said.
The expelled lodgers were brought to frontline towns where they did not know anyone and in some cases didn’t have any money to buy food or pay for accommodation.
The people brought to Vavuniya were taken a school yard and were given mats to sleep on.
According to the Sunday Leader paper, although the police had pledged to make all arrangements to send the Tamils to their home towns, on arriving at the frontline towns, the evictees had to pay Rs.2500 to the army for their voyage to the war-torn Jaffna penisula.
Lakshmi, one of evictees, said they had been issued orders by the security forces to keep the money ready the day they are taken away, to pay for their bus tickets to Trincomalee, and then for a boat ride to Jaffna, the paper added.
"We can hardly afford to eat and we have to pay Rs.2500 per person. I thought all arrangements were made for us to return," Lakshmi said in despair.
On Friday June 8, Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo based think tank filed a fundamental rights (FR) application at the Supreme Court against the forced eviction.
The Supreme Court, after preliminary inquiry into the FR application, issued an interim injunction on the law enforcement authority to stop expelling Tamil civilians until the inquiry is completed.
Following the court ruling, in an attempt to defuse the international outrage, Sri Lankan state also agreed to return the evictees back to Colombo.
According to Associated Press, human rights organisations visited the evicted the next day to take down names, and that evening they got back on buses again to return to Colombo - scared, tired, but safe.
”On Saturday, 186 of the expelled Tamils returned to Colombo on government buses from the northern city of Vavuniya,” said Rohan Abeywardana, a top police official.
”On Saturday, 186 of the expelled Tamils returned to Colombo on government buses from the northern city of Vavuniya,” said Rohan Abeywardana, a top police official.
Fearing further harassment by the Sri Lankan security forces, not all evictees returned to Colombo but the ones returned are living in fear.
“I'm scared, it could happen again,” said Rasamma.
Rasamma’s feelings were reflected by another Tamil.
“We were taken from the lodge so the manager and others knew what happened. But if you're caught alone, no one would know what was happening,” said the young man said.
“I'll sleep afraid tonight. Every night, now I'm afraid”.
