DISPLACED FAMILIES

IN NORTHERN MUHAMALAI RETURN FOLLOWING LANDMINE CLEARANCE PROJECT

- By Kamanthi Wickramasinghe in Jaffna

Rasadurai Rasendram (64) from Intherapuram, Muhamalai, was displaced with his family of 9 on multiple occasions, once in 1996 and then again in 2000 as a result of the protracted civil war. Due to heavy contamination of the area with shrapnel, land mines and unexploded ordnances (UXOS), Rasendram and his family couldn't return to their original homelands immediately after the war. But as a result of painstaking efforts by deminers engaged in landmine clearance operations, expedited by The HALO Trust in the Northern Muhamalai area, Rasendram, along with his family, was able to return to their original home in 2021, after a hiatus of 21 years.

Muhamalai Forward Defence Line

During the final stages of the civil war, Muhamalai made up the Forward Defence Line between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE forces. After the tactical withdrawal from Elephant Pass in 2000, the Security Forces established a defence line along Kilali, Muhamalai and Nagar Kovil in the south of Kodikamam to protect the Jaffna peninsula. In fact, one of the main intentions of the terrorists was to capture the Jaffna Peninsula.

During the Ceasefire, movements began on the A-9 road from the South to the North and back, while Muhamalai became the entry-exit point to the controlled and uncontrolled areas. Therefore, food and other logistics were channelled via the Muhamalai entry-exit point. As such, Muhamalai became a very strategic point for the south and for over 400,000 civilians living in the Peninsula at that time.