COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
It was explained that following the 2004 tsunami, the government had introduced a 300 metre
buffer zone between the coastline and housing. This meant that many owners could not have
regular access to their boats from their homes, many having become detached from their boats
and engines during the latter stages of the war.
When asked about healthcare and education, the AGA told us that there were enough schools,
but not enough teachers. With regard to healthcare, she told us that they had two divisional
hospitals and a dispensary, but the problem was that there were no buildings to house further
clinics or healthcare centres.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) told us that 3 or 4 agencies had scaled
down operations in Jaffna over the past few months. The World Bank programme was
continuing to provide shelters, but they pointed out that only 50 permanent houses had been
built. UNDP identified several areas where livelihood assistance was required in Jaffna and
these mainly targeted women heads of household, fishing and agriculture. There was a
requirement for multi-purpose buildings to support these industries, especially to support
training needs. The district had a need for carpenters, builders and masons, but rather than
train or provide tools for locals many tradesmen were being brought up from the south to work
on projects. UNDP also identified that there were cultural differences between different
generations, with many youngsters saying that they did not want to follow their parents into the
family profession/business.
We met with a group of 10 enforced returnees at the IOM offices in Jaffna. Of these, 5 had been
returned from the UK (one on the June 2011 charter), 4 from Papua New Guinea and 1 from
Australia. We learnt that 3 of them were still unemployed, 3 had returned to the family business
and 4 had embarked on new ventures using some of the skills they had picked up overseas. We
asked each of the 5 returnees from the UK what problems they had faced since returning to Sri
Lanka. One man said that his main problem was that his wife and child were still in the UK.
When asked if there was anything else, he said that on his return the police had asked him
about the LTTE. A second man, who had returned on the June charter flight, said that his
biggest problem was that he had no work. He said he was hoping to continue his studies and
we advised him to contact the British Council office in Jaffna. We asked him if any officials had
contacted him since returning and he told us that about one week after his arrival a police officer
visited his home to confirm he was residing there, but nothing else. The other 3 returnees said
that they had had no problems at all since returning.
This was my third visit to Jaffna since the end of the war in May 2009. In September 2009 I had
found most people upbeat and optimistic, whereas in June 2010 I found anger and frustration
amongst most people I spoke to. Like previous visits I met with not just government officials but
local NGO workers and ordinary people in towns and villages. I asked people what the mood
was in the district, especially since the local elections earlier in the year. In general they told me
that they were just concerned with getting on with their lives. No longer was the conversation
automatically about security or political issues, and apart from ‗grease yakkas‘, (see:
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2011/08/31/how-grease-yakka-became-a-nationwideplague
), crime was not the main talking point. Instead people wanted to talk about what
investment they required and how they could start earning money and not rely on handouts
from others. Checkpoints were no more, and although there is an obvious large military
presence, it was not openly noticeable on the streets.
Kilinochchi
278 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.