Unmai-Land: Persistent Land-Grabs & Sinhalisation in NE Sri Lanka

This dossier compiles evidence from leading human rights and policy research organizations regarding land issues in post-war North and East Sri Lanka. It contains in-depth field investigations and policy analyses from both international (ICG, Oakland Institute, HRW) and domestic (CPA, Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research) sources, alongside archives from the British Library. ### What the dossier holds The body of evidence tracks the transformation of temporary military occupation into permanent state control, characterized by land-grabs, military-commercial ventures, and the strategic settlement of Sinhala populations. It details the use of Buddhist monastic land claims (Himikama orders), forest department land seizures, and archeological appropriation to drive dispossession. The dossier also includes reports on the failure of land restitution mechanisms, highlighting the discrepancy between state claims of land release (e.g., 672 acres by 2025) and ongoing patterns of Sinhalisation. ### Why it matters The dossier is critical for understanding the structural components of conditional sovereignty imposed upon Tamil-majority areas, where property rights and traditional land tenure are systematically undermined. It challenges narratives of post-conflict normalcy by revealing continued patterns of demographic engineering and cultural erasure, thereby exposing fundamental obstacles to reconciliation and self-determination. The active digitisation of historical land registers offers a counter-narrative and a basis for establishing historical land claims. ### What the citations establish Overall, the citations establish a clear and consistent pattern of state-sponsored Sinhalisation and militarisation. Tier-A reports from Oakland Institute, PEARL, and Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research consistently map land seizures, the construction of Buddhist viharas on Tamil land, and the strategic renaming of places. These sources, complemented by HRW's documentation of systematic failures in land return, illustrate the enduring nature of forced displacement and the deliberate undermining of Tamil presence and heritage in the North-East. CPA's contributions, as an independent Colombo-based organization, provide critical localized policy analysis and monitoring of land releases.

Citations