Action Alert Archive

Forcible return of IDPs by Sri Lankan authorities

April 17, 2007

Sri Lankan authorities are forcing internally displaced persons in the eastern Batticaloa district to return to their war-stricken homes. The refugees have received threats that aid and security will be cut off unless they return. The internally displaced are now helplessly being pushed back into the situation that they originally fled. It is the ongoing bombing campaign in the East that has been conducted for the past 10 months that has forced them to leave their homes in search of safety and security.

More than 150,000 IDPs reside in the Batticaloa district, the highest number in the country. An estimated 2,800 IDPs are to be sent back to the Trincomalee district from six different camps in Batticaloa, as of March 12, 2007. A UNHCR report from March 16, 2007 noted that villagers who were originally from Batticaloa were told by local authorities that they would not receive assistance unless they relocated, and that their safety would not be guaranteed, despite the UNHCR being assured by government officials that the UNHCR would be involved and everything would be voluntary. Spokesman Ron Remond said at a press conference, "According to one of the reports, women and children at one site were forced to board buses despite pleas that they couldn't leave while their husbands were still at work and children at school." The Human Rights Watch report from March 16, 2007 echoes the sentiments of the UNHCR regarding the forced sojourn of the tens of thousands of internally displaced persons from the East.

Even more concerning is that the very same agencies committed to helping these people are being denied the opportunity to help. As AFP reported on April 14, 2007, "Sri Lankan officials are displaying a thinly-disguised loathing of Nordic truce monitors, international organisations and NGOs". The BBC Sinhala service reports one IDP commenting, "They tried to fool us to take us into the buses. People will go back if UN or UNHCR take us there and guarantee our safety. But people no longer trust the government or the army" (March 16, 2007).

We strongly support the ongoing efforts of rehabilitation projects that directly help tsunami- and war-affected people in Sri Lanka, but we believe that financial assistance should be curtailed until the Sri Lankan government demonstrates respect for the human rights of its citizens. In this light, we support the April 6, 2007 statement of the Millennium Challenge Corporation that candidly expresses its concerns in the suitability of the Sri Lankan government receiving money given the neglect of the rights of its citizens. It must be known to the Sri Lankan government that violations of human rights against refugees will not be tolerated. We ask that you pressure the Sri Lankan government to end forcible returns and to protect the rights of internally displaced persons. The Administration should seriously consider sanctions until basic human rights in Sri Lanka are respected.