President urges security forces to expedite return of land taken over during civil war

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has instructed the security forces to expedite the return of lands in the Northern and Eastern Provinces that were taken over during the civil war, which ended in 2009.

However, President Dissanayake said that lands required for national-security purposes would remain under military control. He instructed the security forces to release the maximum possible extent of land that is no longer required.

The President also instructed the Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation to introduce projects aimed at creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for people alongside the return of their lands.

Background

Figures released by the Sri Lankan Government in 2017 showed that approximately 118,908 acres of land in the Northern and Eastern Provinces were being used by the security forces.

Of this total, 88,571 acres were State-owned land, while 30,337 acres were privately owned land.

Although the Government has reported substantial land releases, recent reporting by the Jaffna Monitor, based on official district records obtained through a Right to Information request, claimed that at least 12,861 acres remain under security-force occupation in the Northern Province alone.