302838832.

SRI LAI;K A : EVENTS LEADING TO I

NTERNAL DISPLACEMENT AHD JEFUGEE OUTFLOtY

1915 : The island was rocked by Sinhalese -Muslim riots aarked by Sinhala -
Buddhist chauvinism ; "fhe luslias were brutally attacked by the Sinhalese ,

194^: A Commission appointed by the British governm ent to discuss and

examine proposals for the constitutional reform of Ceylon stated that
the relationship between the majority and minority communities was the
most difficult of the many problems involved , and the contentment of

' the minorities was essential to the well-being of the island as a whole .

D945 ; D .S.
Senanayake in a speech to the State Council recommended the

proposals of the Commission , saying , 'The Tamils are essential to the

. But other Sinhalese politicians

welfare of this island ' disagreed .

1948 : Independence from the British , adopting a British -type liberal

constitution with a 'solemn balance of rights ' between the ethnic

constituents of the island .

1948 : On November 15th a Citizenship Act v/as passed by which resident

i.e . plantation workers )were convert&d "into
Tamils of Indian origin (

' stateless persons . -

- '' .' "

1949 : The Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship )tfct v/as enacted

for the purpose of registering resident Tamils of Indian origin and

Pakistanis as citizens .The administration of the Act deprived over 95%
of Tamils of Indian origin of citizenship rights , because it m ade
citizenship dependent not on birth or domicile in the island but on the
birth of ancestors . '-Che Ceylon Parliamentary )Election Amendment Act
(

1949 deprived Tamils of Indian origin of voting rights . (

In the previous

elections they had returned 8 members to parliament and influenced

) The settlement of Sinhalese

decisions in 20 other electorates . farmers

in the Eastern and Northern Provinces began .

W.
1955 : S . D.
R. Bandaranaike made a speech in the House of Representatives

saying that : 'The fact that in the towns and villages , in business

houses and in boutiques , most of the work is in the hands of the Tamil -
speaking people will inevitably result in a fear , and I do not think an
unjustified fear , of the inexorable shrinking of the Sinhalese language .'

2- ^956 : On 5 June , the introduction of the Sinhala Only Act by the S.

L.F.P.

-, i government led by Bandaranaike made Sinhala the only official language

l ^i
of Sri Lanka . Tamils started a non-violent agitation outside Parlia m ent

House on the same day and were attacked by Sinhalese mobs , including

Buddhist monks , with the support of the governm ent , ^iots quickly spread

' to Gal Oya and Amparai in the Eastern Province . Hundreds of Tamil peasants
from border villages and lease farmers from Anuradhapura fled to majority
 Tamil areas .

1957 : A pact was concluded between Bandaranaike and Chaelvanayagam of the

Tamil ) Federal Party , but was subsequently abrogated by the Sri Lanka
(

government .

[
'1958 : The Tamils started a non -violent protest and agitation towards the

end of May 1958. On May 25 , riots started in Polonnaruwa and spread over
the whole island ; in 4 days , hundreds of Tamils were butchered , wom en were
', raped , shops looted . An Em ergency was proclaimed on May 29 . Over 10 ,000

' Tamils , who had assem bled as refugees in Colombo , were shipped to Jaffna .
The Tamil Language (Special Provision s ) Act providing regulations for

the reasonable use of Tamil for prescribed official purposes was enacted
' but not implemented .

I960 : The Language of Courts Act made Sinhala the only language of all
courts throughout the island .
1960 -61 : The nationalisation of schools hit the Tamils because m any Tamil

medium classes in schools in majority Sinhalese districts closed , and

schools in Tamil areas were deprived of the necessary finances .

1961 : Tamils migrated into districts of Vavuniya , Mullaitivu and Mannar

after riots . In February , "Ehe Federal Party launched an agitation and civil
disobedience campaign against policies of the Sri Lanka government . Mrs

Bandaranaike declared a state of Emergency and sent miltary troops into

the Northern and Eastern Provinces to crush the agitation .

j 1964 : According to the terms of the Sirimavo -Shastri Pact , around 525 ,000
'
Tamils of Indian origin were to be repatriated to India and resettled there
around 300 ,000 ) were to be granted Sri Lanka citizenship ,
while the rest (
both within the next 15 years .

1965 : A Pact was concluded between. Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake and

the Federal Party on the lines of the 1957 pact , but was abandoned in
1968 due to opposition from Sinhalese extremists .A BJ.
H drawn up to

decentralise administration at a district level was also dropped due to

pressure from Sinhala extremists .

1966 : Regulations for the use of the Tamil language were once again-
enacted un-der the Tamil Language Special Provisions )Act of 1958 ? hut
(

remained a dead letter due to pressure from Sinhala public servants and
governmental indifference .

V.
1971 : In- the aftermath of the J . P. (
Janata Vimukthi Peramuna )uprising ,

over 10,000 Sinhalese youths were murdered by the Sri Lankan army and the

armies of other foreign governments who assisted it.The government of

 i Sri Lanka introduced a system of 'standardisation of marks ' to

provide for preferential treatment to Sinhalese students . This

resulted in a progressive decline in the admission of Tamil medium
students because admission was no longer on the basis of merit .
L- ~

1972 : The island 's constitution . changed to give Buddhism a

was ..

privileged status and restrict the fundamental rights of citizens .

1973-6 : There were further benefits to Sinhalese students in

admission to University by : standardisation (1973 }; standardisation

and the district quota system (1974 ); standardisation and the ^

100 % qota system 1975 ) and standardisation

( and 70% on marks , 30%

on quotas (1976 )
.

1974 : The Jaffna Campus of the University was opened , but Jaffna

College , the main secondary school in the north , was taken over for

the purpose . The Fourth World Tamil Conference at Jaffna was

attacked by Sinhalese police on 10 January ; 9 Tamils were killed and

hundreds were injured . There was no condemnation or enquiry by the

S.L .F .P . government .

1976 : At a meeting in Vaddukodai , The Tamil United Liberation Front

resolved to restore the state of Tamil Eelam .

[^
t-
-' |1977 : The UNP came to power in the May elections . Within a month of

their taking office , riots began on August 16 and continued for over

15 days . There were more than 50,000 refugees , including thousands

of upcountry Tamils who were mostly resettled in the farming areas
of Vavuni ya , Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu . The army was sent into the
Northern and Eastern Provinces with instructions to 'wipe out the
terror ists '.
^_.
1978: J .R .Jayawardene introduced a new constitution m aking himself
President and assuming enormous powers . Buddhism was given a
privileged position and Tamils were required to acquire proficiency

in Sinhala . Jayawardene also expelled Mrs Bandaranaike from parliamen i

and dissolved and reconstituted the judiciary to make it politically

subservient to him .

1979 : The Tamil areas were brought under army rule with a directive

from Jayawardene to eliminate the menace of terroris m by the end of

the year . The Prevention of Terrorism Act was enacted . Section 30

stated that it was to be used against the Tamil people . According to

the Act , 'any person known to be suspected to have been concerned

with any unlawful activity ' could be detained for 18 months . There
 4

was no provision for judicial remedy agains t detention or torture .

1981 : On 31 May , the eve of District Development Council elections in

Jaffna , Sinhalese police and arm ed forces went on the rampage , killing

and looting . The Public Library in Jaffna , containing over 90,000

volumes including ancient Tamil manuscripts , was reduced to ashes .

Jayawardene declared an Emergency in Jaffna District , but allowed

the DDC elections to go ahead as scheduled on June 4 . The TULF won

all six seats . The elections were followed by island -wide anti -Tamil

pogroms , starting with state -sponsored violence against Tamil peasants

in Amparai and Batticaloa districts . Hundreds of Tamil peasants

became refugees . Tamil plantation workers on more than 40 estates

were beaten . Over 15 ,000 people took refuge in schools and temples ,

and were later moved to the Northern Province for resettlement .

1981-2 : By this time , Tamil families in Sinhalese areas were almost

non-existent ; only working males remained . Tamils had no permanent

interests , except in the big cities . The steady migration of rich

and upper -class Tamils to India and the West began . The number of
army camps in Northern and Eastern Provinces increased .

1983 : In April , the police arrested officers of Gandhiyai ", a

voluntary agency working for the rehabilitation of Tamil refugees

in Vavuniya district ' they destroyed the office and burned the

houses and crops of the resettled Tamils , forcing them to flee

north . On May 18, Jaffna was attacked . In June , the army set fire to
Vavuniya town in a 'search and destroy operation ' to eliminate

militant groups . Sinhalese th-mgs and armed forces attacked Tamil

civilians in the Eastern Province in an effort to drive them out

of the Trincomalee region so as to obtain a Sinhalese majority

there . On July 22 the news came that Sinhalese soldiers had abducted

three schoolgirls in Jaffna town , and the militants retaliated by

blowing up an army truck and killing all 13 soldiers in it . The army

went on a rampage in Jaffna , killing 30 people on a single day . From

July 24 , hundreds of Tamils were butchered on the streets by armed

Sinhalese mobs and thugs . Looting and burning continued for many

days ; more than 75 ,000 refugees took asylum in the Colombo camps

alone . On July 27 , 37 Tamil political prisoners held at the prison

in Colombo were massacred by Sinhalese thugs , and next day another

17 were killed . The violence spread to Kandy , Gampola and other

upcountry areas , causing large numbers of plantation Tamils to flee
to the Northern Province ? some were massacred while fleeing . Nearly
100 ,000 Tamils sought refuge in 27 temporary camps across the island ;
 some were shipped to the Jaffna peninsula . On August 3 , Jayawardene

banned the TULF and announced the banning of three left -wing parties

for alleged involvement in the riots . The trickle of Tamil refugees

to India , mainly to coastal Tamil Nadu , started to rise after the

July 1983 riots ; they consisted mainly of businessmen , professionals

and youth joining militant groups operating from Madras .

1984 ; There was continuous naval shelling of coastal villages in

the Jaffna peninsula , forcing fishermen to withdraw to the hinterland

the Sri Lanka government also put a ban on fishing along the

Northern Province coastline , and the Navy started attacking and

shooting down fishermen , including Indians . Army brutality in the

Eastern Province forced people in the coastal areas to flee to the

Northern Province .

1985 : As a result of heavy naval shelling of Mannar , there was the

\T\ entry of the fmrst fisherfolk _ families into India from the Mannar

region ; this snowballed and continued for nearly two months . Another

wave of 'boat people ' left in September , mainly from Mannar , also

few from the Eastern Province . There were also attacks by Tamil

militants against Sinhalese civilians and settlers in the Eastern

Province . There were estimated to be around 100 ,000 internal Tamil

refugees in camps and houses of friends and relatives , and around

25 ,0
00 Sinhalese refugees in camps in Anuradhapura and Trincomalee

districts . According to an estimate compiled and released by the

Central British Fund for Tamil Refugees Rehabilitation , in October

1985 , the number of Tamil refugees outside Sri Lanka was about 5
lakhs "check this ); the breakup was as follows : India : 115 ,000 ;
(

FRG : 20 ,0
00 ; France : 19 ,0
00 ; Netherlands : 3 ,200 ; Canada : 3 ,0
00 ;

U.K : 2 ,000 ; Switzerland : 1,800 ; Italy : 1,000 ; U.S .: 200 ; Denmark :

200 ; Norway : 200 ; Sweden : 200 . The numbers were increasing , and there
was also movement from one country to another , especially from
' India to Europe .

1985 : PLOTE , one of the militant groups , killed several of its own

cadres . There were similar occurrences in other militant groups .

1986 : The LTTE killed over 90 cadres of TELO , a rival militant

group , by the middle of the year . Several cadres of EPRLF , another

group , were tortured and killed by the LTTE .

1987 : After LTTE leader Kittu 's leg was lost in a bomb attack , at
the end of March , over 50 prisoners in LTTE camps were killed . Their

surprise assault of 12 September in the Eastern Province left a

reported 70 militants from other groups dead .

1987: From 26 May onward , the Sri Lankan army 's 'Operation Liberation

at Vadamarachchi continued for 5 days ; there was indiscriminate

bombing and shelling , and a large number of youths , some picked up

from officially designated places of refuge , were summarily killed .

1987 : On July 29 , the Indo-Sri Lankan Peace Accord was signed . On

August 31 , the government of Sri Lanka and the UBHCR signed a

memorandum of understanding under which UNHCR was to provide

assistance for the rehabilitation of refugees and a few displaced

persons . In early October , the death of 12 LTTE members in custody

led to reprisal killings of h& Sri Lankan army personnel and over

200 Sinhalese civilians in the Eastern Province . The IPKF retaliated

with a military offensive which began on 10 October and lasted 15

days . The offensive was designed to wrest control over the Jaffna

peninsula from the LTTE ; around 18 ,000 troops were used , and

civilian casualties were estimated at around 2 ,000 by non-governmenta :

sources , resulting from heavy bombardment of Jaffna town . Many youths

from militant groups other than the LTTE were forced by the IPKF to

carry arms against the LTTE ; however , the September 28th agreement

with the LTTE had given no representation to groups other than the

LTTE on the interim council . In the aftermath of the IPKF offensive ,

around 500 ,000 people or 50% of the population were displaced and

needed relief assistance . The LTTE relinquished Jaffna , but regrouped

and waged guerilla warfare against the IPKF . The IPKF responded with
reprisals against civilians . From the end of 1987 , the LTTE launched
campaign of assassination against civilians suspected of being

collaborators with India or potential opponents - e.g . members of

Citizens 1 Committees and former "members of other m ilitant groups .

1987 : The UNHCR Special Programme of Limited Assistance became

operational on December 24 , with the movement of 252 refugees from

South India to a newly -established transit cetre at Talaimannar .

1988 : When the LTTE did not come forward , India decided to back the
EPRLF for the provincial council elections . There followed a series

of killings of people seen to be sympathetic to the LTTE , including

relatives . At the same time there were killings by the LTTE of
civilians suspected of being informers . The IPKF continued to carry

out reprisals against civilians inx response to attacks by the LTTE -

e.g. on 1 June sss. m ilitants shot dead two IPKF soldiers in the
morning at Point Pedro Bazar , and in the afternoon , thousands of
males were rounded up and assaulted indiscriminately ? in November ,

after an LTTE grenade killed three IPKF soldiers , several people

were killed , wounded and tortured in indiscriminate firing and

round-up . There were reports of women being molested and raped in

IPKF search operations .

1988 : By the end of July , 17 ,345 refugees had returned through

Mannar and 4,671 via the reception centre at Kankesanturai which

began operations on 4 April . For the first four months of the

programme , UNHCR was unrepresented at the point of departure in

Rameshwaran , and there was no indication that refugees were given

the option to remain . A major reason for the reluctance of refugees

to return is the uncertain security situation in the North and

East , leading to civilian casualties , estimated to be around 2 ,000

for the first six months of 1988 . Also the risk of individual

returnees being singled out to coerce them into being informers ,

or to silence or assassinate them . There was an escalation of armed

conflict between militant groups , at this time said to number more

than 30. The civil administration under the office of the Government

Agent (
responsible for local amenities , distribution of food-grains

through government cooperative s-tores and delivery for the Emergency

Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Programme ) was functioning only

intermittently . A mission of the BRC and DRC found that in August

there was a heavy IPKF military presence in the North , and it was

difficult to travel because of military checks and land-mines .

Refugees were being interviewed by the UNHCR to find out if their

return was voluntary in a reception hall guarded by IPKF soldiers .
All young male Tamils were viewed as being suspected militants or

as being potentially informed of militant activities and therefore

were at risk . Public health was poor and there were shortages in

Jaffna hospital . Relief provisions and dry rations were inadequate .

40% of returnees in the Jaffna area were staying with relatives ,,

40% in refugee camps . Relief work was being severely hampered by

military operations , continuing tension and hostilities . The m ajority

of houses need repair or rebuilding , and the grants being provided

are inadequate . Affidavits sworn before Justices of the Peace in

Colombo and Jaffna indicate that several involuntary returnees from

Europe allege they have been intimidated and deprived of ID cards

by CID of the Sri Lanka Police at Katunayake airport . One was

alleged to have been held in detention in Boosa camp since his

arrival on 24 Jan-nary 1987 and to be s-ubject to habeas corpus
proceedings instituted by his father in the Sri Lanka courts .