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VI. Tamil Evictions from Colombo
Indications of possible Tamil evictions from Colombo became public on June 1, 2007,
when Inspector General of Police Perera told reporters, “Those who are loitering in
Colombo will be sent home. We will give them transport.” He continued, “We are
doing this to protect the people and because of a threat to national security.” 121
At about 4 a.m. on June 7, police and army forces conducted sweeps of lodges and
boarding houses where Tamils from outside the capital frequently stay. In most
cases, people were not allowed to use toilets and were given as little as 30 minutes
to pack their bags. The authorities put 376 Tamils on board buses that drove to the
predominantly Tamil town of Vavuniya, about 250 kilometers to the north, near the
boundary with LTTE-controlled territory.
Human Rights Watch interviewed three people who were evicted from different
Colombo lodges. According to one evicted man,
There were nearly 20 policemen and 15 army soldiers. They asked me
what I was doing in Colombo. I told them I was working here as a driver
for nearly four months. They checked my identity card and told me to
pack my bags. 122
A Jaffna resident and his mother had been in Colombo lodges since December 29. He
told us,
We are here to get our visas. In between my mother got very sick so we
could not go back to Jaffna. They forced both of us on the buses. My
mother was crying, she could not walk. In Jaffna, the situation is very
bad. There is no security for us. We are scared to go back there. 123
121 Amal Jayasinghe, “Sri Lanka Government Seeks Peace Talks,” Agence France-Presse, June 1, 2007.
122 Human Rights Watch interview with person evicted from the lodges, Colombo, June 27, 2007.
123 Human Rights Watch interview with mother and son evicted from the lodges, Colombo, June 27, 2007.
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Human Rights Watch August 2007