Petition of the Popular Alliance for the Right to Land to the government: “That they immediately return the lands confiscated by the military for the civil war and that are not yet available. And in development projects, that there be no more acquisitions to the detriment of the areas used for the sustenance of the communities”.
Colombo () – Since 2015, the World Day of the Landless has been celebrated worldwide on March 29. The initiative -launched by the Asian Peasant Coalition- in Sri Lanka was an opportunity to once again draw public opinion’s attention to a problem that is further aggravating the economic crisis that the country is going through.
Currently, in various regions of Sri Lanka, thousands of families of all ethnic groups – Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim – are landless. “Thirty years of civil war, militarization, land acquisition laws by government institutions such as security forces, the Department of Wildlife and the Department of Archaeology, as well as inadequate development projects, have led to this situation,” denounced in a statement the Popular Alliance for the Right to Land, a coalition of communities, activists and civil society organizations that fight for the rights to housing, land and property of marginalized people. The document recalls, in particular, the plight of the Tamils ”who have lived as a landless community since the British abandoned Sri Lanka”; all this despite the fact that land is “a key factor for many to enjoy their rights, including those of subsistence and identity.”
The statement laments the lack of solutions by successive Sri Lankan governments and reiterates some recommendations that have already been made in the past. The first point is the return of the lands usurped by the military during the civil war to the population and communities. The government should also provide adequate assistance to the population to resume agriculture and other livelihoods on restituted land and offer compensation for damage suffered during the occupation.
Another request from the Popular Alliance for the Right to Land is to launch a program to identify private agricultural lands that were arbitrarily demarcated as forest and wildlife reserves. It should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account ownership records and past use, environmental sensitivity, but also the importance of these lands for the food security of local communities.
In addition, any attempted acquisition for development, industrial or tourism projects should be stopped immediately if the land in question is used by local food producers for their subsistence. Alternatively, communities should be helped to develop community-based tourism and other development projects that complement their livelihoods. In any case, land should only be acquired where a clear, reasonable and justified public purpose is identified and without leaving landowners in uncertainty.
Finally, for the People’s Alliance for Land Rights, adequate portions of land with housing should be granted to all families residing on the plantations in recognition of their work. A compromise that must be pursued by resorting to uncultivated and abandoned land. And this full ownership should be guaranteed by a property title, so that they have the freedom to decide how to use it. Women would also be guaranteed this right.
