Amid increasing violence by Sri Lankan troops against Tamil civilians, many are fleeing government-controlled areas to areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers and a small number are even fleeing to south India, reversing a trickle of returns from there since the February 2002 truce.
Over the weekend, several hundred families fled from areas controlled by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Jaffna peninsula and crossed to LTTE held Vanni region through the Muhamalai, bringing the number of families seeking refugee there to over 4,000.
Many families have shifted from the villages of Ariyalai, Velanai, Punguduthivu, Kayts, Thambatti, Kodikamam, Varani, Karainagar and Velvettithurai. They could be seen on the road with their belongings packed into trucks, minibuses and auto rickshaws, reports said.
The displaced were received at transit centre for displaced people set up by Tamil Rehabilitation Organization on the LTTE side of the checkpoint.
They were provided with cooked meals before they were sent to other welfare centres. Some families have choosen to live with their families and friends, the TRO said.
In Trincomalee district, more than one thousand families have fled from their homes in the SLA controlled divisions of Muttur and Seruvila in the Trincomalee district due to harassment and intimidation allegedly by the government troops manning sentries located in their villages and have sought refuge in schools and with their relatives in the LTTE held areas.
As of January 11 about 500 families from Mallikaithivu, Kachchanoor and Iruthayapuram had taken refuge in two schools in Thanganagar—an LTTE-controlled area, WSWS reported.
About 750 families or 2,371 people from Menkamam, Kumarapuram and Kilivetti had taken shelter in nearby schools or in the homes of relatives after cordon-and-search operations by government forces.
Here also, the TRO has deployed its volunteers in Eachchilampathu and other areas to supply cooked meals to refugees and sent a stock of mattresses and bed sheets for the displaced.
In Mannar district region in the west of Sri Lanka, about two hundred fisher families, residing in Siruthoppu near Pesalai, have moved to Vankalai about 20 km away from the military-controlled Mannar town following intimidation and threats by security forces. They took their fibreglass fishing boats and nets and other fishing gear in tractors and available means of transport.
Mannar bishop Joseph Rayeppu says a number of families had recently sought shelter in local churches fearing reprisals.
Since recent attacks on Navy buses, masked men have regularly entered their houses in the night threatening inmates with death and other atrocities. Several people were burned alive in a retaliatory attack by Navy sailors on a Tamil settlement.
Indian officials said the refugees arriving in Tamil Nadu are mostly from Mannar. They reportedly find it easy to hire a boat from Thalaimannar and are dropped on an island close to Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu fishermen bring them ashore.
“What these refugees are saying is that the Navy there wants information on the LTTE movements. It suspects that some of the local people were working with the Tamil Tigers in the recent operations,” a senior police officer told The Hindu newspaper.
“Apparently, those living with their families, especially children, want to move out of Defence-controlled areas. Many have moved into LTTE territory while these people have decided to come over to Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Jaffna daily, Uthayan, in an editorial this week protested the “collective punishment” being meted out to the Tamils by the Sri Lankan military.
“It is a common practice for oppressive governments to deal with the pressures of a people’s movement by giving collective punishment to the entire people. The freedom struggle in the Tamil homeland which has become the people’s struggle is being handled by the Sinhala military in the same way.”
“The result is the beating and killing of innocent people to punish the grenade attack carried out by someone else. These military actions are not taken in the heat of the moment. These are well planed actions of the military to threaten the people into submission.”
Over the weekend, several hundred families fled from areas controlled by Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in the Jaffna peninsula and crossed to LTTE held Vanni region through the Muhamalai, bringing the number of families seeking refugee there to over 4,000.
Many families have shifted from the villages of Ariyalai, Velanai, Punguduthivu, Kayts, Thambatti, Kodikamam, Varani, Karainagar and Velvettithurai. They could be seen on the road with their belongings packed into trucks, minibuses and auto rickshaws, reports said.
The displaced were received at transit centre for displaced people set up by Tamil Rehabilitation Organization on the LTTE side of the checkpoint.
 A Jaffna fishing family add their boat to their possessions as the pack up and flee to LTTE held areas to escape Sri Lankan military reprisals. Photo Tamilnet |
They were provided with cooked meals before they were sent to other welfare centres. Some families have choosen to live with their families and friends, the TRO said.
In Trincomalee district, more than one thousand families have fled from their homes in the SLA controlled divisions of Muttur and Seruvila in the Trincomalee district due to harassment and intimidation allegedly by the government troops manning sentries located in their villages and have sought refuge in schools and with their relatives in the LTTE held areas.
As of January 11 about 500 families from Mallikaithivu, Kachchanoor and Iruthayapuram had taken refuge in two schools in Thanganagar—an LTTE-controlled area, WSWS reported.
About 750 families or 2,371 people from Menkamam, Kumarapuram and Kilivetti had taken shelter in nearby schools or in the homes of relatives after cordon-and-search operations by government forces.
Here also, the TRO has deployed its volunteers in Eachchilampathu and other areas to supply cooked meals to refugees and sent a stock of mattresses and bed sheets for the displaced.
In Mannar district region in the west of Sri Lanka, about two hundred fisher families, residing in Siruthoppu near Pesalai, have moved to Vankalai about 20 km away from the military-controlled Mannar town following intimidation and threats by security forces. They took their fibreglass fishing boats and nets and other fishing gear in tractors and available means of transport.
Mannar bishop Joseph Rayeppu says a number of families had recently sought shelter in local churches fearing reprisals.
Since recent attacks on Navy buses, masked men have regularly entered their houses in the night threatening inmates with death and other atrocities. Several people were burned alive in a retaliatory attack by Navy sailors on a Tamil settlement.
Indian officials said the refugees arriving in Tamil Nadu are mostly from Mannar. They reportedly find it easy to hire a boat from Thalaimannar and are dropped on an island close to Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu fishermen bring them ashore.
“What these refugees are saying is that the Navy there wants information on the LTTE movements. It suspects that some of the local people were working with the Tamil Tigers in the recent operations,” a senior police officer told The Hindu newspaper.
“Apparently, those living with their families, especially children, want to move out of Defence-controlled areas. Many have moved into LTTE territory while these people have decided to come over to Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Jaffna daily, Uthayan, in an editorial this week protested the “collective punishment” being meted out to the Tamils by the Sri Lankan military.
“It is a common practice for oppressive governments to deal with the pressures of a people’s movement by giving collective punishment to the entire people. The freedom struggle in the Tamil homeland which has become the people’s struggle is being handled by the Sinhala military in the same way.”
“The result is the beating and killing of innocent people to punish the grenade attack carried out by someone else. These military actions are not taken in the heat of the moment. These are well planed actions of the military to threaten the people into submission.”
