Chucked out and brought back

The ordeal faced by Tamil lodgers ecvicted from Colombo

By Nadia Fazlulhaq

Little Krishanth* happily runs around the lodge little knowing the uncertainty and fear the adults in his family feel. His smile and laughter rings out easing the tension. He belongs to one of the many families who were cruelly evicted from their lodgings on Thursday and then once again brought back to Colombo last morning.

Some of the ecvicted people in Trincomalee. Pic by A.T.M. Gunananda

“I was crying all the way back to Colombo from Jaffna, wondering what I would have to face back in Colombo. I didn’t have any money with me either,” said S.Kamaladevi* who was temporarily lodged in Wellawatte awaiting her passport to fly out to Doha, when she was ordered to pack her belongings and leave.

Kamaladevi’s* main worry is her 19 year-old son who is presently working in Colombo.“We have no income and no investments in the north, that’s why my son is working in Colombo. There are many boys not only Tamils but also Muslims and Sinhalese who have come from various parts of the country and who are working here with no threats at all. I believe that my son too will go abroad since it’s a lot safer there,” she said.

According to Kamaladevi* she and other inmates in the lodge were taken from Colombo at around 6.30 a.m. after being given just a half hour’s notice. By 11.30 p.m. they had reached Vavuniya where they were taken to Gamini Vidyalaya. She said several relief organizations including the Red Cross had provided them with food. The next day they were informed by Vavuniya’s GA that they were going back to Colombo.

What is their fate: A lodger back in Wellawatte. Pic by M.A. Pushpa Kumara

Mohan Kumar* (25) who is also staying in a lodge at Wellawatte said these kind of acts make the Tamils feel unwanted and threatened.

“Police had been inspecting the lodges for about three to four days continuously and on Thursday at about 3.30 a.m. Police and Army personnel entered and started knocking on all the doors and said we were to be taken back to our birthplace. We heard them saying we were being taken back to Jaffna. When we heard this we began to panic given the prevailing situation in the north and the women started to cry,” he said.

According to him many of the lodgers who were ordered to gather at the lobby were not even given time to change their clothes.

“We were rudely woken from our sleep and told that we have to go back to Jaffna. Even though there weren’t any children in our lodge there were many patients and senior citizens . Some of them were here to undergo homeopathy and ayurvedic treatment and were therefore unable to produce proper documents. In our lodge there was a person who had undergone a kidney transplant. He too was dragged into the waiting bus. There were a few sympathetic policemen who at least gave ear to our plight but others didn’t even understand what the lodgers were saying as they spoke in Tamil.

Packed off to Vavuniya with her belongings.

Among the 29 lodgers who were staying in his lodge 26 of them returned while three opted to remain in Vavuniya.

“Most Tamils come to Colombo for a reason although living here is difficult due to the high cost of living. We don’t have to spend so much in our villages and many Tamils come here mainly to go abroad,” he said.

Padma (64)* was staying here awaiting her passport to Australia to join her daughter.“They took me all the way back to Vavuniya even though I explained my reason for coming to Colombo. Now I’m scared to stay here and want to get to my daughter as soon as possible,” she said with tear-filled eyes.

* All names have been changed.