‘Thousands of families’ left landless, Sri Lankan civil society groups warn
The People's Alliance for Right to Land urges the government to return land taken by the military during the civil war, and stop acquiring land for development projects that damage the livelihoods of communities.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – International Day of the Landless has been observed on 29 March since 2015 all over the world.
Launched by the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), the initiative has offered an opportunity to raise public awareness in Sri Lanka about a problem that has made the country’s current economic crisis much worse.
Currently, thousands of families from every ethnic background – Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim – are landless in different regions of Sri Lanka.
In a statement, the People's Alliance for Right to Land (PARL) notes that “Thirty years of civil war, militarization, land acquisition laws, land acquisition by the government institutions such as security forces, wildlife department, and archaeology department, and improper development projects have resulted in landlessness in Sri Lanka.”
For PARL, a coalition of communities, activists and civil society groups fighting for the right of marginalised people to housing, land and property, “Up-Country Tamils have been living as a landless community for more than twenty decades in Sri Lanka since the British left Sri Lanka.”
The right to land “is a key factor for many to enjoy their rights, including their livelihood rights and identity,’ PARL stressed in its statement.
It goes on to express regrets for the failure of successive Sri Lankan governments to find solutions, reiterating some recommendations made in the past.
The first one is the return of lands taken by the military during the civil war to people and communities.
The government should equally provide adequate support to communities to re-engage in farming and other activities on returned lands, offering compensation for the damages endured during the occupation.
PARL also wants private agricultural land arbitrarily demarcated as forests and wildlife conservation areas to be identified. This should be done on a case-by-case basis, taking into account proof of ownership and previous use, environmental sensitivity but also the importance these lands have for local communities in terms of food security.
In addition, any attempt at further acquisition for development, industry or tourism projects should cease immediately if the land in question is used by local food producers for their own livelihood.
Alternatively, communities should be supported to develop community-based tourism and other development projects that integrate their livelihoods.
In any case, land should be acquired only when a reasonable and justified public purpose is identified without abandoning the owners of the land to uncertainty.
Finally, for PARL, adequate lots of land with a home should be granted to all families living on plantations in recognition of their work. Such a commitment should be pursued by distributing non-cultivated and abandoned land.
Full title to land should be guaranteed by a proper deed, so that beneficiaries are free to decide how to use it. Women should also be ensured equal ownership of land.
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