FCEJ stands in support of the birds, the land and the people of Mannar

Following is a statement by the Feminist Collective for Economic Justice, on the attack on protestors in Mannar over the energy project

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The wind turbines have affected the globally renowned migratory paths of thousands of birds

THE Feminist Collective for Economic Justice, Sri Lanka hears the harrowed cries of the birds, the land and the people of Mannar. One of the darkest days of this Government has come to pass on the night of 26 September 2025, with the brutal attack by hundreds of police officers of peaceful protestors in Mannar.! Many protestors have ended up in hospital including women and children.

For years the people of Mannar have been fighting an inspiring battle against sand mining and the wind power project that threatens to destroy their fragile ecosystem. The wind turbines have affected the globally renowned migratory paths of thousands of birds and sandmining is destroying the coastal ecosystem.²The people of Mannar are feeling the social, economic and ecological deterioration caused to the region.³

The Government appears to be carrying through the plans of the previous regime with cosmetic changes. Having stopped the Indian investor, Adani Company from setting up a wind power plant in Mannar, the contract has been handed over to a Sri Lankan company, Hayleys Fenton.⁴ There are no assurances that the local company will do anything different from the Indian investor in terms of preserving the environment, and not harming the people of Mannar.