Land Policies, Land-based Development Programs and the Question of Minority Rights in Eastern Sri Lanka

Mohammad Agus Yusoff,Azmi Awang,Athambawa Sarjoon,Izham Hakim Hamdi

doi:10.5539/jsd.v8n8p223

Mohammad Agus Yusoff, Azmi Awang + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5539/jsd.v8n8p223

Copy DOI

Abstract

Land has been one of the major concerning factors in escalating disputes and conflicts between ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, including the violation of minority rights. This paper examines the impact of land policies and land-based development programs on the rights of ethnic minorities in eastern Sri Lanka by analyzing selected major policies and projects. The analysis is interpretive and descriptive in nature. Secondary literature was the primary source for the analysis. The results found that the majority of land policies and programs were designed and implemented in favor of the ethnic majority - the Sinhalese - and violated the land-based rights of ethnic minorities, thereby leading to many problems and challenges. Findings further revealed that not only were these policies and projects intended to reduce the ethnic balance of the minorities in the region, but they also resulted in territorial political claims among the ethnic minorities in the region.

Highlights

The human’s wellbeing, progress, and peaceful life are related to the soil, sunshine, river system, forest, and natural resources of their native land
This paper attempts to examine the impact of land policies and land-based settlement projects implemented by successive governments on the socio-economic and political life of Tamil-speaking minorities, especially those living in eastern Sri Lanka
The land policies and land settlement projects implemented by successive post-independence Sri Lankan governments motivated by the need for development in the undeveloped interior regions of the island, have contributed a number of benefits in particular to the Sinhalese, with a negative impact on the rights of minorities, engendering the development of territory-based political claims, ethnic conflict, and violent civil war in Sri Lanka

Summary

Introduction

The human’s wellbeing, progress, and peaceful life are related to the soil, sunshine, river system, forest, and natural resources of their native land. Land is a highly politicized and ethnicized issue that has been widely perceived as being central to the breaking up of ethnic relations and intensified ethno-political conflict in Sri Lanka since independence This includes land policies, and a number of state-sponsored land distribution (colonization) schemes that were implemented in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, which attempted to move the Sinhalese into Tamil and Muslim dominant areas in the north-eastern region. After independence, through the ‘Grow More Food’ campaigns of the Sri Lankan government ‘grown lands’ were allotted mainly to Sinhalese, but as Rupasinghe (2002) indicates, Tamils and Muslims have benefited On this basis, a number of irrigation-based land settlement projects were initiated by successive post-independence governments, in order to provide land and livelihood opportunities for landless people across the country. The following section extensively reviews the major projects and their influence on minorities

Land-colonization in the Eastern Region of Sri Lanka

Mahaweli Project and Its Impact on Ethnic Minorities in Eastern Sri Lanka

Findings

Conclusion