No land grab on basis of ethnicity is taking place, asserts Divaratne

Says appropriate measures are being undertaken to address humanitarian issue of Muslims concerning land through the lawful adoption of a formal system

As the Secretary of the Presidential Task Force on Resettlement, Development and Security of the Northern Province, I believe I owe a clarification.

Since several allegations have been levelled against Minister Rishad Bathiudeen in recent news items and the matters raised therein to the effect that forest lands are being grabbed on the basis of ethnicity when all measures in connection with resettling the displaced people have been completed and that the reason for the Minister to ask for land is to create a Muslim ethnic zone in the Northern Province, this could possibly give rise to false information. I think it is essential to clarify the issues.

1. Displacement of people of the Northern Province

When terrorist activities started in Northern Province in the latter half of the 1970s, the people of the province began to be displaced frequently. The terrorists did everything to chase away the Sinhalese from the beginning itself and the Muslims from the start of 1990. The terrorists not only confiscated all the belongings of the people driven as such but also settled the Tamil people in most of the lands belonging to the displaced. The displaced people got the opportunity to return to their own places only after the State took appropriate steps in the 2009 to resettle them.

2. Resettling the displaced people housed in welfare camps

Subsequent to liberating the civilians from the clutches of the Tiger terrorists through the humanitarian operation launched by the Government forces in May 2009, in order to provide them shelter, a vast welfare village was established by the State. The number of displaced who came to stay in the welfare centres was around 292,000 towards the conclusion of the humanitarian operation.

Under the program started in August 2009 to resettle the displaced people, preference was given to the Tamil people who were staying in the welfare centres, having been internally displaced. Since Sinhalese and Muslims had been displaced already due to the previously ongoing eviction process of terrorists and had been living in centres, those inhabiting these welfare centres were entirely Tamils. Like the Tamil people who were living in the welfare centres being displaced from 2009 to 2012 went for resettlement in their original places with their relatives and friends, the total number of Tamil families resettled by the end of 2012 amounted to 142,000. Taking into account the total resettled during this period, there were 117,017 Tamil families, 22,134 Muslim families and 4,913 Sinhala families.

As for relief assistance during the resettlement, the magnanimous assistance by the Country Office of the UNO and other INGOs and NGOs came in mostly in the process of when those people were being resettled. It was none other than Rishad Bathiudeen who as the Minister in charge of the activities of maintaining the welfare centres and at the commencement of resettlement won the accolade of the local and foreign experts on behalf of those displaced. His contribution in fulfilling this grave national endeavour, with no discrimination of ethnicity or any other criteria is unforgettable.

3. Displacement of Muslims of the Northern Province

The Presidential Task Force on Resettlement, Development and Security focused its attention towards the statistics with regard to the Muslims displaced from the Northern Province. According to the statistics of the 1981 Population Census, Muslims were 4.6% of the total population of the north. The percentage in the Districts of Jaffna and Kilinochchi was 1.5% and in Mullaitivu and Vavuniya it was at 5% and in Mannar District it was 26.09%. Though no actions were taken to evacuate the Muslims from the north at the advent of the terrorist activities in the province, in accordance with a decision arrived at by the LTTE in 1990, considering the Northern Province as the area for the Tamils alone to live in, it was decreed that the Muslims should vacate the north totally.

Most of those driven away thus went to Puttalam District and the rest to other areas such as Anuradhapura, Kurunegala and Colombo. On the basis of the statistics of the 1981 Population Census, the Muslim population which lived in the Northern District was 50,831, out of which 27,717 were in Mannar. The United Nations Commissioner for Human Settlement reports that the number of Muslims displaced from the north was 63,145.

Though the Muslim population living in Mannar in 1981 numbered 27,117, at the time of resettlement, the number of those who had registered with the Divisional Secretaries for resettlement was 65,531. In accordance with the statistics of the 1981 Census, the average membership of a Muslim family of the Northern Province stood at 5.43. According to the report of the Government Agent of Puttalam, the number of Muslim families which arrived in the district in 2009 from Northern Province as displaced was 19,251. When considering this lesser number, the total population that stayed in Puttalam alone amounts to 100,000 and when adding the number of Muslims who settled in other parts of the country, this number would swell further.

 Resettlement of the people

The policies adopted in the resettlement of the displaced people.

The following basic principles were adopted by the Presidential Task Force for Resettlement

I. Resettlement shall be voluntary.

II. Resettlement of the internally displaced people shall be in their original places.

III. Resettlement process shall be with dignity and security.

IV. The security forces of Sri Lanka shall be partners in the resettlement activities.

V. Those displaced who need to see their original places by themselves prior to resettlement shall be afforded such opportunities.

VI. Basic facilities shall be accorded for the construction of houses and to immediately begin the means of livelihood.

Resettlement of Muslims

After the completion of all the arrangements for the resettlement of those Tamils who were staying in the welfare centres, special attention was given to measures for the resettlement of Sinhalese and Muslims, who had been living displaced for many decades.

It was reported by the Divisional Secretaries that the total number of Muslim families resettled in all five districts of the Northern Province was 22,134 by the end of July 2012, out of which 15,321 families had returned to Mannar District alone.

Although these people returned with the aim of settling in their original places of abode, they encountered many an obstacles in their resettlement. Therefore, while out of the 15,321 families which had returned to Mannar for resettlement, only 7,828 could permanently settle in their original places; of the families returned to the District of Mullaitivu in the earnest hope to resettle in their original places, the number of the families settled permanently was only 2,060 out of 2,744, indicates a study conducted in July 2012 and this has been further confirmed by the 2012 Population Census.

The main factor for such a precarious situation of Muslims was the issue related to the matter of lands. On the basis of the witnesses who appeared before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, having comprehended the problem correctly, it has recommended in paragraph 6.18 of its report that special measures should be affected to address the issue.

Considering especially the landscape of the Mannar District, the plain main land of Mannar consists of very little uplands suitable for human settlement. Therefore, the populace mostly lived on the uplands in the centre of paddy fields. Because of this factor, lands for the expansion of their villages are inadequate. For expansion purpose, their paddy fields have to be filled. The LTTE, retreating from Jaffna and other places in 1995, had entered the villages and the surrounding areas, in which the Sinhalese and Muslims had been living, taking the Tamil people along with them by force or willingly, and on most of the occasions had taken steps to distribute the lands left by the Muslims or Sinhalese among such Tamils. Since the Tamils were thus settled in the lands that were once available to Muslims to expand their villages, the Muslims were not able to resettle and were also unable to expand their settlements. Even in Vavuniya District, the situation has turned out to be the same. This issue affects both Muslim and Sinhala communities alike.

Taking into consideration the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, the Presidential Task Force has adopted two methods to identify the land issue of the Muslims of the north and to find a solution for the same.

1. A committee formed under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Ministry of Resettlement, consisting of the Commissioner General of Lands, Director General of Forest Conservation, Director General of Wildlife and representatives of the Presidential Task Force has inspected each village individually and on the types of problems that seriously impacts nature of land ownership that affects resettlement, obtained suitable recommendations to acquire (land) allotments from the suitable (relevant) lands. So far it has been possible for this committee to examine only on Mannar District. Based on the recommendations of the above committee, the Ministry of Lands has again conducted studies on the specified lands and appointed a special committee to study such situations in other districts too. Terms of reference of this special committee are as follows.

(A) I. Enumeration of the families and persons displaced from every area of each specific Grama Nidhari Division.

II. Identification of the families and persons resettled in their original places before and after 2009.

III. Identification of the number of those who are yet to return for resettlement.

IV. In the respective villages, identification of available lands suitable for home gardening and of irrigated and rain fed lands for distribution amongst those returning for resettlement.

 V. List down those families that have returned but do not have land for resettlement.

(B) Identification and classification of factors contributing to non-availability of lands.

(C) Survey the extent of State lands and the lands belonging to Land Reformation Commission except the forest and wildlife sanctuaries and enumeration of families which could be resettled in such places without any obstacles.

(D) Enumeration of lands belonging to forest and wildlife sanctuaries which have to be released from them (sanctuaries) to resettle the rest of the families.

(E) Submit a report with regard to the present status of the lands belonging to forest and wildlife sanctuaries which have to be released from them (sanctuaries) to resettle the rest of the families.

(F) Make suggestions as to the measures to be taken in relation to the problems and difficulties confronted by the landless people of those villages.

Based on this, it has been recommended to allocate 1,080 acres of land to 2,096 landless families in Mannar District alone.

Meanwhile, requests for much more lands from the respective divisional secretaries have started to come in since available lands were insufficient to cater to both the Muslims returning to Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu Districts where they had been living earlier as well as for lands for the families returning from the Puttalam District, as recommended by the said committee.

After many rounds of discussions, the lands so required were identified. Subsequently, instructions concerning the resettling Muslim families were given to the Government Agents of Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya by the Presidential Task Force. Accordingly directives have been issued for the preparation of formal applications for the release of the necessary lands coming under the purview of the Director General of Forest Conservation and Wildlife Protection and to submit same to the Secretary of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Written instructions also have been issued on the procedures to be followed and on the eligibility of the re-settlers for the grant of lands and the methodology of selection of the displaced families for resettlement.

In fact, on the requests of the Government Agents and according to the instructions of the Secretary to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, arrangements are underway to vest the forest lands so identified with the Divisional Secretaries. If any of the plots of land come within the State sanctuaries, the Director General of Forest Conservation has been authorised to reject the distribution of the said land. Therefore, there is no reason for the 2,388 acres of land of the forest reservation to be in peril.The circular of the Commissioner of Lands titled ‘Rapid Program to Resolve the Problems Regarding the State Land in the Post Conflict Era’ dated 31 January 2013 has been released with Cabinet approval. Measures are being taken by the Commissioner of Lands to issue firm directions to the Divisional Secretaries concerning the utilisation of the lands coming under the Department of Forest Conservation for the resettlement of the people displaced from the Northern and Eastern Provinces. According to the provisions of the circular, instructions have been given with regard to the procedures to be followed in granting of lands both to the landless persons and those who have lost their lands. All the State officials are duty bound to act according to these instructions of the circular.

When considering these facts, it could be reminded that the subject matter of the news item i.e. land grab, will never occur. While 95% of the Tamils displaced from the north have been resettled, 8,000 Muslim families and around 1,500 Sinhalese still remain to be resettled. All the necessary steps for the fulfilment of these programs, especially measures to resolve the land issue, which has turned out to be the main obstacle in resettling the Muslim people, are being carried out by the Government. It is imperative to implement these measures and there is no alternative except granting State lands to these landless displaced people.

When the Northern Province was under the spell of the LTTE and when they were alienating State lands according to their whims and fancies, no voice was raised on the issue then and even now. All the norms concerning the administration of State lands were belligerently contravened with the knowledge of State officials. It cannot be assured that such a situation is not continuing even after the successful completion of the humanitarian operation of 2009. But no one speaks about it.

The land distribution taken up in the above report is being implemented for the sole purpose of resettling the large population of landless displaced people. For the first time, in the above mentioned circular issued recently, provisions have been made with regard to the legal procedures to be followed in the administration of land in the Northern Province.

2. Prior to the issuance of the circular, when there were no special arrangements at hand concerning the distribution of lands, the Presidential Task Force making timely decisions facilitated the implementation of the Indian-aided housing project.

A total of 7,500 housing units have been allocated to Mannar District under the Indian-aided housing project. As these houses will be granted only to those displaced people who have returned for resettlement and since Muslims are in high number amongst the displaced, it is possible that the majority of these houses allocated may go to the Muslims. The basic criterion considered for the resettled persons to receive houses is that they live in their own lands. Though most of the Muslims had been living earlier in their own lands, due to the reasons that they were living away from their original abodes for a lengthy period of time and the sudden expulsion on the orders of the terrorists and the inability to return to their places for long, no documents in proof of their ownership were left with them. Between 1990 and 1995, when the program to formalise the unauthorised lands was implemented, the Muslims were not living in their own villages. Thus, that opportunity too slipped away from the Muslims. There too a great injustice had been caused to them.

Under the circumstances, the relevant Divisional Secretaries have been directed to issue Letters of Confirmation of their right over the lands they are settled in, on condition that those people who were expelled from their original abodes and their families live in their places after returning; non-claim of ownership by any others over the lands they live in and they possess rights over them. The Presidential Task Force has given instructions to the Divisional Secretaries to consider the Letters of Confirmation as the documents for substantiating their rights over their lands, when handling the distribution of the housing units for them. As the instructions of the Commissioner General of Lands have to be adhered to when undertaking the functions of the next phase of the program, in the issuance of legal permits for such lands, measures have to be taken according to the provisions contained in the circular.

As such, while appropriate measures are being undertaken to address the humanitarian issue of the Muslims concerning land through the lawful adoption of a formal system, it is possible that wrong impressions may be created amongst the general public on the actions of the said Minister on the basis of matters raised in the said news item(s), I wish to recommend that appropriate measures be taken in order to rectify the potential wrong impressions.