Involuntary Displacement and Resettlement — Policy and ... - CEPA

A key example is how a joint interest has developed among all parties inPuttalam to maintain the IDP category. For the northern Muslims, the IDPcategory is an important statement of their right to return, their right tocompensation and a statement of the injustices they feel have taken placeagainst them. For the local people and the local politicians, the maintenanceof the IDP category means that the demographic and ethnic balance inPuttalam will not change.7 Finding Solutions to Protracted DisplacementLabelling processes affect solutions to protracted displacement. As I haveshown here, the IDP and host categories must be understood to createvulnerabilities and strengths at the same time – the categories become bothassets and liabilities. How should we use this finding? I often hear today thatthe northern Muslims are integrated in Puttalam; they own land, they work,some have married from Puttalam etc. However, the plots of land are smalland most of them work as casual workers and have an irregular incomewhich does not enable them to develop their lives. As Thalayasingam showsin his paper, the level of conflict is still high among the hosts and the IDPs –the two categories have become social groups that to a large extent areorganising principles in the Puttalam area.Integration, in this context, generally means shared vulnerability betweenthe IDPs and the poorer hosts. Here, a crucial point is to realise the durabilityof the categories formed in a protracted situation of displacement. Can wetalk about a solution when society is so organised according to the categoriesof IDPs and hosts?As mentioned above, there are often three solutions mentioned for forcedmigrants: local integration, return or resettlement. For the northern Muslimsand their hosts in Puttalam, the most relevant solutions would be localintegration or return. I have pointed out elsewhere (Brun 2003, 2008) thatlocal integration would have been achieved in Puttalam when the northernMuslims have become full members of society there. I have also shown thatthe aim of many northern Muslims is to return to their homes in the north.However, during previous periods of peace, many people have realised thattheir connections with Puttalam are now so strong that a translocal solution,a solution where they maintain connections with both Puttalam and thenorth, is more likely. During the two decades of displacement in Puttalam,new generations have been born, sons and daughters have married and139