Families return home after bomb-making factory is cleared

^{The shop the family has built in front of their house.}

Tharmalingam Sountharrajan had little knowledge of the bomb-making factory 700 metres from the family home in the heart of his village.

Containing hundreds of mines, explosives, mortars and other items, the site was a deadly cocktail of badly stored weapons.

“Even a spark from someone burning something nearby could have set off a huge explosion over 200 metres radius, or even more,” said Mines Advisory Group Sri Lanka’s Technical Field Manager Frank Masche, who assessed the site.

Fifty-five year-old Tharmalingam, his wife Saraswathi, and teenage children Kajerdini and Sajeekaran had left the village of Mulliyavalai Central GN Division, Mullaitivu District in December 2008 due to the conflict. Their 21-year-old daughter had been forcibly recruited to the LTTE (Tamil Tigers) earlier that year.

Though the civil war ended in May 2009, the family was unable to return until the area had been cleared of the many lethal remnants of conflict, including those discovered at the bomb-making factory.

“The way the items were arranged was very dangerous, with switches and explosives all over the place,” says Frank. “This was a highly hazardous area which needed to be cleared before any resettlement could take place.”

MAG arranged for the bomb factory to be cleared by the Sri Lankan Army and, following this, resettlement of the area began last month. A total of 49 families (159 people) have now returned safely, with more expected to arrive in the coming months.

After fleeing north to Pokkanai and then spending 12 months living in IDP¹camps in Vavuniya, Tharmalingam and his family returned home on 24 April. Unfortunately, they discovered their shop had been bulldozed during the conflict and their house badly damaged. But the family has built a smaller shop, which is  providing basic household items to the returned population.

Their earnings are now 500 rupees per day (approximately £3), compared to 2,500 rupees (£15) before they fled. They hope to develop their shop further and rebuild the house.

“When I heard about the landmines and UXO², I was afraid to come home because we didn’t know where they might be,” Tharmalingam told MAG.

“However, now that MAG has done their survey and the dangerous areas have been cleared, we are able to come home and rebuild our lives.”

Notes:

¹IDP = internally displaced person(s): people who’ve been forced to move to other areas of their own country due to conflict.

² UXO = unexploded ordnance: explosive weapons – such as bombs, rockets, missiles, mortars and grenades –  that did not explode when they were used and still pose a risk of detonation.