YES, STILL WE IN THE CAMPS

Sri Lanka to present bill to extend term of Resettlement Authority 
Fri, Feb 15, 2013, 11:30 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Feb 15, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government will present in parliament an amendment bill seeking to extend the term of the authority responsible for resettlement of displaced people.
The government received approval from the Cabinet of ministers yesterday to present the draft bill prepared by the Legal Draftsman to extend the period of the Resettlement Authority Act of 2007 for another three years after April 10, 2013.
The Resettlement Authority under the Ministry of Resettlement had a fixed term of six years and its term was due to expire on April 10, 2013.
Minister of Resettlement Gunaratne Weerakoon submitted the proposal to the Cabinet to present the draft Bill to parliament.
According to the Secretary to the Resettlement Ministry, the decision to extend the term was taken despite the closure of the Manik Farm camp after successfully relocating most of the 300,000 displace people at the end of the war in May 2009, since there are still pockets of displaced people in the country that need to be resettled.

View of CSOs
Government said to the media that their was no any IDPs in Sri lanka , but civil organizations  Challenge   the authorities that people are still in the camps and some of them  are only relocated without getting any basic assistance.So government force to extend the resettlement authority.How ever it has happened now.    

VOICE OF PEOPLE Implement the LLRC RECOMMENDATION

* Sri Lanka to resolve land dispute in North and East immediately
Mon, Feb 18, 2013, 07:53 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Feb 18, Colombo: Sri Lanka Ministry of Land and Land Development says that it will resolve the dispute arisen due to the occupation of civilian lands for military establishments immediately.
Accordingly, the Ministry has started a study on the land in the High Security Zones of Northern and Eastern Provinces.
The civilians who resided in the lands now taken under High Security Zones have been asked to submit their proof to the ownership of lands to the Divisional Secretaries of the area, the Ministry said.
These lands were acquired by Sri Lanka Army for High Security Zones and the Ministry of Land and Land Development says that the land that is needed to be retained will be acquired and the owners will be compensated.
United Opposition of Sri Lanka recently launched a protest demonstration in Jaffna demanding the return of these lands to their original owners.
The Lesson Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) has recommended the government to review the existing High Security Zones, as well as small extents of private land currently utilized for security purposes, with a view to release more land while keeping national security needs in perspective.
It recommended provision of alternate lands and or payment of compensation within a specific time frame if the government occupied lands cannot be released to the owners.

Field visit and monitoring work

Field visit and monitoring work

Place –Ampara district

            Batticoloa District

Date -16,17/01/13

Women headed families meeting

-Date-16/01/2013

-Participation details 

No	Village name	Participation and comments	WHF  village meetings
01	Kannagipuram 01	06	They have started village group but not active continuously
02	Kannagipuram 02	09	They have started village group but not active continuously
03	Thiraikeni	07	They have started small group in the village .Five small group formed 03 month back and start saving among the groups.
04	Winayagapuram [Palakauda ]	06	Not group formed yet

Actions for the future

*To strengthen the groups in each village

*Collect the information in each village and build the system to up date the information

*Prepare the livelihood projects for the each village.

*To keep the all the minuets in each meetings.

*To start the common WHF forum meeting once a month.

Focus group discussion

Date -16/01/2013

Ampara District 

No	Village name	Participation	Village activities
01	Kannagipuram 01	02	They started village meeting but not continuously conduct the meetings.
02	Kannagipuram 02	08	They started village meeting but not continuously conduct the meetings.
03	Thiraikeni	05	They conduct the monthly meetings and they involved the village activities and fight for their rights.
04	Winayagapuram [Palakauda ]	03	They started village meeting but not continuously conduct the meetings.

Main issues that village FGD team involved.

-Land issue

- To get the livelihood from the Authorities.

-To get the drinking water and housing project

Out come of the meeting

-They build the regional committee

New leaders

President – S.Magendran- Thiraikeni

Vice president –S.Vanitha-Kannagipuram 01

Secretary -I.Janitha- Winayagapuram[Palakuda ]

Vice secretary-P.Puwaneshwari- Kannagipuram 02

Treasure-K.Kogulan- Kannagipuram 02

-They discussed actions plan for   each village

*To strengthen the village level FGD and keep the minutes properly.

*To prepare the 03 month action plan for each village and regional committee.

Comments -

*Although they have formed the Regional committee that was not continuously activated.

*They did not have any minuets in their groups meetings.

*Field officers not facilitates properly.

Focus group discussion

Date - 17/01/2013

Batticolloa District

No	Village name	Participation	Group  saving	Village  group situation
01	Kapawelli[ M-  04 F- 22 FG members in village level]	M- 05 F-11	Rs .6400 .00	They started village meeting but not continuously conduct the meetings. They participate the Gandi citizen forum.
02	Urugamam [ M-  04 F-36 FG members in village level]	M-  01 F-03	Rs .1660.00	They started village meeting but not continuously conduct the meetings. They involved village common activities and Discuss with the GS and other officers of their problems.
03	Kithtuil[ M-  04 F-36 FG members in village level]	M- 01 F-05	Rs .1200.00	They conduct the monthly meetings and they involved the village activities and fight fro the right.
04	Thunpalachchole[ M-  02 F-23 FG members in village level]	M- 01 F-04	Rs .3000.00	They started village meeting. They have discussed with authorities for their disappearance husbands. Conduct the media briefing.
05	Valikakandi [ M-  05 F-25FG members in village level]	M- 04  F-01	No	They have reformed their earlier rural development society which was registers in DS office of Chancalladi. They have discussed with DS on the flood damages but authorities escape with people issues .So they plan to send the petitions to the president.

Decisions that they have taken after the discussion

No	Action	Responsibility	Time frame
01	To open the Account for the GANDI Citizen committee.	Syelwer kumar, President, Treasure and Secretary	First week of February  2013
02	To strengthen the village level FGD and keep the minutes properly.	Village level leaders and Field officer	End of the February  2013
03	To give the permanent membership	Office  bearers of GANDI  Citizen committee and Field officer Syelwer kumara	End of the February  2013
04	To build the main comities, drafting of the constitution   and prepare action plan for the year *Economic development comity. *Education comity.[Children and youth ] * Advocacy and campaign   comity including environmental protection.   *Women development comity.	Syelwer Kumara ,Subremaniam,Saraswathi,Sebastian, Wadiwal,Pumagi  and Wallipulai	End of the February  2013
04	To build the WHF forum	Syelwer Kumara and group leaders in each village	March 2013
05	Exposure visit	Syelwer kumara	March 2013

Case study

My name is Sebastian lived in Kapaveli. I am 69 years. I am driver. Last month I transported five village people to the NAFSO training center for year evaluation. I participated as diver .In that meeting I also joint   now and then for the common sessions. I got feeling that people should organized and awareness themselves. In the same time I also change my attitude that I also should get the membership from the Kopaweli group. Although I am diver I also faced all the problems that Kopaweli people faced .So when I went to the village I discussed with leaders and I joint the Village group. Now I am member of the group and I give my fully support for the team.  I thank NAFSO team and GANDI forum.

Monitoring team

*priyankara costa

*A.Jesudasan

*Lavina Hasanthi 

Case study

Case study My name is Sebastian lived in Kapaveli, Batticoloa district . I am 69 years old. I am driver. Last December 14, 15and 16, I transported five village people to the NAFSO training center for year evaluation. I participated as diver .In that meeting I also joint now and then for the common sessions. I got feeling that people should organized and awareness themselves. In the same time I also change my attitude that I also should get the membership from the Kopaweli group. Although I am diver I also faced all the problems that Kopaweli people faced .So when I went to the village I discussed with leaders and I joint the Village group January 2013. Now I am member of the group and I give my fully support for the team. I thank NAFSO team and GANDI forum.

When we get our Land?

Cardinal Malkam Rangith , Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph, Defense ministry secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa , Military leaders and Mullikulam people had meeting at Mullikulam NAVY camp on 26 December 2012 , Decisions that they have taken as below *To give the land 750 meters outside of the origin village. *To build the houses and other all basic assistances including road, water, and electricity *Livelihood program –Farming and fishing If people agreed to below promises Cardinal Malkam Rangith also agree to support to these IDP people. That was the promises from the Government side. So as civil organizations and clergy we met people last 13 of January 2013. According to them Government break the first promises .Now they start to survey the land 1400 miters out of their village. People said how can we trust the promises. So finally they planed to send the Fax to the Cardinal Malkam Rangith and send the letter. People idea was that Cardinal Malkam Rangith should support to get the 26 December 2012 promises.

Will people get thier rights

SL Archbishop collaborates with Gotabhaya in militarization land grab • Written by TCEHR • Monday, 07 January 2013 00:28 resettling inhabitants, news sources in Mannaar said. The Sinhala Archbishop had come and the Tamil Bishop of Mannaar, Rayappu Joseph, was made to silently sit along with him at the conference called by Gotabhaya at Mu’l’likku’lam on 26 December, in coercing the largely Tamil Catholic villagers to the sulking reconciliation of accepting alternative offers of land, the news sources further said. The Tamil Catholic villagers, who were owning more than 1 acre of land per family as an average, are now given with half an acre per family 750 meters outside of the village and a ‘promise’ from Gotabhaya that a ‘state of the art’ village would be built for them having the Sinhala military of genocidal intent at their neighbourhood. It is now learnt that the Bishop of Mannaar was pressurized and coerced by both the Sinhala Archbishop and the SL Defence Secretary to silently present himself at the militarisation cum land-grab conference. Many villagers became silent after seeing the Bishop of Mannaar at the conference, news sources said. The Bishop of Mannaar later admitted to journalists, “there was nothing to take place through talks.” The Mu’l’likku’lam Sinhala Naval base in the Musali division of Mannaar district as well as militarization of Mannaar are particularly aimed at Sinhalicisation and dismemberment of the Tamil homeland on one hand, and on the other hand, wedging cum targeting the Tamil Nadu coast on the opposite side that has a predominant population of Tamil Catholics of the same clans, commented Catholic circles of the Western coast. The Sinhalicized Tamil Catholics of Puththa’lam, Gampaha and Colombo districts now realize the dismemberment of their own territoriality in the island, their loss of language and loss of communication with their own clans on the opposite coast with whom they were sharing the waters throughout in history, the Catholic circles commented further. The Sinhala Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith has gone on record on several occasions for siding with the regime in Colombo and subtly shielding the regime’s genocide against Tamils. It was the Bishop of Mannaar who boldly came forward to enlighten the world on the disappearances in the Vanni War running into a figure of 146,000. The Bishop was also leading the civil society movement of Eezham Tamils in recent times. Writing last month, Dr. Brian Seneviratne, Australian human rights activist of Sinhala origin steadfastly supporting Tamil rights, said the following: “It concerns me greatly that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has just sent officers to question (intimidate) the outspoken Rt Rev Dr Rayappu Joseph, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Mannar in the Tamil North. The next step will be that he will ‘disappear’ in a white van – be ‘white vanned’. That is why the world must be informed, which is what I have been trying to do. “The Pope will have to act. After all, it is one of his flock who is under (real) threat. Will he? I doubt it. I have a photograph of the Pope clasping the blood-stained hands of Mahinda Rajapaksa - clasping it not with one hand but with both! “Vatican diplomacy has blessed many of the tyrants and torturers of recent history, betraying Catholic idealists in Singapore to Lee Kuan Yew, and secretly exerting pressure on the British government to free ‘Torturer-in-Chief’, former General Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested in Britain and was wanted by Spain to face charges of murder and torture. The Vatican’s unfitness for any role in world affairs could hardly have been better illustrated. “So I am not holding my breath that the Vatican will act even though Bishop Rayappu Joseph may well be the Sri Lankan version of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador who was executed by government gunmen when he raised the Chalice celebrating Holy Communion.” http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=35913

Let's give our hands to protect the victimes

 Nearly 400,000 still affected by floods in Sri Lanka, 40 dead, 7 missing


Dec 29, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Disaster Management Center (DMC) says it is providing relief to nearly 400,000 people that are still affected by the floods and landslides.
According to the DMC, since December 17, 398,538 people belonging to 109,191 families have been affected by the adverse weather in Southern, Central, North Central, Uva, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern, Northern and North Western Provinces.
The DMC reported 40 deaths, 10 of them in the Eastern Province while 7 have been declared missing and 20 individuals have been injured.
A total of 38,763 people of 11,120 families have been sheltered in 244 evacuation centers.
The floods and landslides had damaged 4,191 houses completely and 21,674 houses partially.
The government has estimated that some 78,559 hectares of paddy lands have been completely destroyed and 158 mini irrigation tanks in 11 districts have been extensively damaged by floods.
Meanwhile, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said the government has allocated 142 million rupees to provide relief to the affected people and another 50 million rupees are needed.
However, the opposition parties have criticized the government for not providing adequate relief to the affected people in rural areas.
The Minister has dismissed the opposition charges saying that the country's Army and Navy are also assisting relief distribution and repairing damaged roads and dams in flooded areas.