Forced migration and changing local political economies: A study from North-western Sri Lanka

Abstract

Forced migrations are an endemic phenomenon of the internal war going on in Sri Lanka since 1983. Currently about a million people have been internally displaced. The vast majority of them are Tamils from the war-torn North-East Province. However, substantial numbers of Muslims and Sinhalese have been displaced too. In October 1990, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam expelled thousands of Muslims from their homes in northern Sri Lanka. Most of these forced migrants moved to predominantly Muslim areas in Puttalam District, which lies outside the war zone. The present study examines the impact of long-term displacement of large numbers of Muslim migrants on the political economy of the host areas in Puttalam. After an overview of the changes at the Divisional level in Kalpitya, the study focuses on one village in which the IDPs far outnumber the locals. The study maps the processes of change with reference to relief and development, relocation, distributional conflicts, socio-economic differentiation, vulnerability to deprivation and local and regional politics. The study shows that long-term residence of the IDPs in a safer area outside the war zone has led to major changes in the local socio-economic context and that the IDPs themselves have become more permanent stakeholders as participants in production and services and members of settled communities. While social integration between the IDPs and locals is evident, the former remain politically excluded. Their right to stay is not complete without political inclusion. On the other hand, this right should not in any way negate or undermine their right to return.