Sri Lanka’s archaeology department is attempting to evict recently resettled residents of a Mannar village.
Families in Malikaipitty in the Nanattan division, a village of around 69 households who have been resident there for over four decades are being pressured by the archaeology department to leave, citing the discovery of an ancient site close by.
The villagers have been resident there for over forty years but were displaced during the war, during which time their homes were destroyed.
“We are only just building our homes anew,” one resident said, “and now they are trying to make us leave. But this is our land.”
