“Enabling resettlement in Akkarai village, Sri Lanka” by The HALO Trust

Enabling resettlement in Akkarai village, Sri Lanka The inhabitants of Akkarai village on the northern side of the Jaffna peninsula were displaced from their small fishing village in 1986. The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) advanced from the west and set up a camp to defend against LTTE attacks from the east, forcing the 105 families to abandon their homes, boats and livelihoods. In 1990, the families were allowed to return to the area, but when one man lost his leg in a mine accident people were once again displaced and the land surrounding it was again occupied by the Army. This land then became part of the military High Security Zone which covered the northern coast of the Jaffna peninsula. – See more at:http://www.halotrust.org/node/908#sthash.80e0Q8ZB.dpuf

“Satellite images show that the High Security Zone is not being used as intended” by Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice

Last year we ran a campaign around the Government of Sri Lanka’s seizure of land belonging to Tamil families forced from their homes by the civil war. Over 7,000 acres of land – potentially up to $2 billion worth at current prices – was seized in the Northern and Eastern provinces using land acquisition notices which gave little justification for the seizures. The vast majority of this land, 6,381 acres of it, is contained within the Valikamam High Security Zone in the northern Jaffna peninsula.

via: http://blog.srilankacampaign.org/2014/08/arial-photographs-show-that-high.html