SRI LANKA: IDPs Divided over Election Outcome

IRIN – As the results of Sri Lanka’s first post-war presidential election poured in, the mood at Menik Farm, in the main government-run camp for the ethnic Tamil internally displaced (IDPs), in the northern town of Vavuniya, was sober.

Only 6,000 residents of the camp, home to some 118,000 IDPs, sought to register for the 27 January polls.

“We want an opportunity to rebuild our shattered lives,” said a resident, Sellamma Vallimuttu. She recalled a time when the north was flourishing, with lush paddy fields, hectares of onion fields and unrestricted fishing.

Read more