Office of Missing Persons conducts more registrations despite finding no one

The Office of Missing Persons (OMP), a government-run initiative, conducted its final registration process at the Vavuniya Divisional Secretariat. Despite being 15 years since the end of the armed conflict, the OMP has faced criticism for its inability to locate even a single forcibly disappeared individual. Tamil families in the North-East have consistently rejected the OMP, labeling it an ineffective institution.

In the Conference Hall of the Divisional Secretariat, OMP officials recorded statements from relatives of missing persons. Letters were sent to 62 individuals, urging their participation in the registration process. However, the OMP’s track record remains contentious, and many continue to seek answers about their loved ones.

The latest call for registration comes after years of delays by the OMP. Despite its establishment, the OMP has struggled to take proactive measures. Families affected by the conflict have endured a painful wait for information, hoping to discover the fate of their missing family members. The OMP’s inability to provide meaningful updates has left many disillusioned. The OMP’s shortcomings have not gone unnoticed on the international stage. Human rights experts have consistently criticized the institution’s lack of progress. In 2022, the UN High Commissioner highlighted the OMP’s failure to trace a single disappeared person or clarify their fate in meaningful ways. The frustration extends beyond Sri Lanka’s borders, with Eelam Tamils in the North-East and the diaspora rejecting the OMP as a whitewash.

The OMP’s repeated calls for registration raise questions about its effectiveness. Families who have waited for over a decade remain skeptical. The promise of compensation and certificates for missing persons has been rejected by families who have called for an international investigation into allegations of war crimes and enforced disappearances.  

Recently, a special task force led by the Sri Lankan President’s Secretary has been formed to accelerate the operations of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), according to a report in Virakesari, despite the failure of the office to have any tangible process on the issue and years of Tamil protests against it. The latest registration run comes after years of delays by the OMP to take any proactive measures. It is unclear how much more a special task force would contribute to providing justice to the families of the disappeared. The government under Ranil Wickremesinghe has in the past has appointed several committees and task forces. Yet 15 years since the armed conflict families still languish for answers to what happened to their loved ones. 

The OMP has been routinely criticised by international human rights experts and Tamil family members of the disappeared. In 2022, the UN High Commissioner highlighted that the OMP "has not been able to trace a single disappeared person or clarify the fate of the disappeared in meaningful ways". Eelam Tamils in the North-East and the diaspora have rejected the OMP citing that it has failed to find their loved ones, with many labelling the institution a whitewash.