IDPs are on the road even after 25 years!

Rishad calls a two year timeline to solve Lanka’s Northern Muslim IDP issue

• ‘We do not want to take this to Geneva’-Rishad
• Calls for a new Govt Resettlement Plan within two years
• ‘Let us solve this through a domestic process’-Rishad
• Losses from ‘90 Northern Muslim eviction mount to Rs 17 Bn
• ‘IDPs are on the road even after 25 years’-Rishad

As groups of helpless Northern Muslim IDPs continued to languish homeless 25 years after their initial displacement, a top Cabinet Minister representing them called for a domestic solution within the next two years but insisted that the issue would not be taken to Geneva levels; and the financial and property losses from the 1990 Northern Muslims eviction now add up to Rs 17.5 Bn! “Today no one else is helping these IDP families – not even the Resettlement Ministry. We estimate that financially the displaced Northern Muslims lost Rs five billion at the time of their overnight eviction and today’s value of this loss is in multiple times of that” said Rishad Bathiudeen (Minister of Industry and Commerce of Sri Lanka) on 30 October in Colombo.

Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the special press briefing in Colombo to commemorate the 25^th Anniversary of Northern Muslim Displacement, held on 30 October.

“It is 25 years today since 24000 Northern Muslim families were evicted overnight by the LTTE from the Province on 1990 October 30. We were asked to leave within two hours. Decades later, when some of the families returned to resettle after the end of war, they found that there were no facilities to resettle and start a new life” said Minister Bathiudeen, and added: “And even when we tried to help them resettle, TNA supporters blocked the resettlement of 2000 of these IDP families-today no one else is helping these 2000 IDP families either-no any government officials nor even the Resettlement Ministry. There is no one to talk about their grievances in Geneva or in an international fora. We believe that we should not take this issue to international fora and it should simply be resolved locally, and we are confident that the new government of both these leaders will resolve it within the coming two years. Not only that there is no help from our Resettlement Ministry, but we are sad to say that even the highly respected V. Vigneswaran Chief Minister of the Northern Province, only talks about Northern Muslims to be like their brothers despite such talks, he had never visited and met these IDPs -even once! We estimate that financially, the Northern Muslims lost Rs five billion at the time of their overnight eviction-and you can guess today’s value of this loss is in multiple times of that. Therefore on behalf of these IDPs who did a lot to bring both these leaders HE the President Maithripala Sirisena and Hon Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to power, as well as a representative of these IDPs, I appeal both the leaders to initiate a special plan to resettle all these IDPs within the next two years. I have trust in both these leaders that they would resolve this issue. Also there is an Army Camp now located in Silavatura in North and it is located on lands originally owned by these helpless IDPs-and in these lands were Muslim schools and Mosques etc that originally belonged to these displaced. Therefore today I also appeal to the authorities to return these lands back to them while agreeing that national security is also important. I appeal our authorities to help resettle the Muslim displaced from Mullaitivu and Jaffna as well-these are two more groups of Northern Muslim IDPS of more than 1000 families.”

When the 1990 Rupee rate adjusted for today’s value, the claimed IDP loss of Rs five billion in 1990 now totals to a staggering Rs 17.5 Bn.

Among the 24000 Northern Muslim families expelled overnight from their traditional homes on 1990 October 30 was the eight-member family of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen.