Return to War - Human Rights Watch

On May 29, UNHCR commented on the government’s resettlement program, which it
said had been in operation for the previous two weeks, involving the return of some
30,000 displaced persons to their homes in Vellavelly DS division, with 90,000 more
returns planned in the coming months. “Our staff have made several assessment
missions and generally have seen that conditions are conductive for return,” a
spokesperson said. “Most of the returnees seem happy to be home but had received
little prior information about the conditions in the areas of return.” 47
Aid workers on the ground told Human Rights Watch that the return process,
coordinated by the Ministry of Resettlement and the STF, was much improved from
the forced returns in March, with no reported cases of physical abuse. However,
many displaced persons were not properly informed of the return process and their
rights, and some complained of intimidation from government security forces.
High Security Zones
The Sri Lankan military captured the Sampur area in Trincomalee district in
September 2006. “Our armed forces have captured Sampur for the welfare and
benefit of the people living there,” President Rajapaksa declared on September 4. 48
Eight months later, on May 30, 2007, the president established a so-called High
Security Zone in the areas of Sampur and East Mutur, encompassing approximately
90 square kilometers. 49 Government regulations forbid any person, including local
residents, from entering or remaining in the newly designated area without written
permission from the competent authority, currently Maj. Gen. Parakrama Pannipitiya.
In the past, the government has established High Security Zones to protect military
camps and strategic installations from LTTE attack.
47 UNHCR press briefing, May 29, 2007.
48 Speech of President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 55
th
Annual Convention of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, September 4, 2006,
http://www.presidentsl.org/data/html/news/200609/20060904news-1.htm (accessed July 16, 2007).
49 The High Security Zone was established under Emergency Regulations (section 5 of the Public Security Ordinance)
published in Gazette Extraordinary No.1499/25.
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