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Back to being refugees
As the violence continues in the northeast, families from Kokilai village that came under LTTE fire last Sunday seek refuge in Negombo
By Nalaka Nonis

Our photographer Dinuka Liyanawatte captured these scenes at the refugee centre in Negombo

They are fleeing again. Villagers from the Northeast are once again abandoning their homes in the face of escalating violence, and moving to safer areas. The stepped up attacks against innocent civilians have renewed the fear of a return to days prior to the Ceasefire Agreement, when people were forced to languish in refugee camps.

This week about 230 fisher families fled to Negombo after the LTTE opened fire at Kokilai in the Mullaitivu district. According to some of the fishermen, LTTE cadres had fired at them from the sea around 5.30 p.m. last Sunday. One villager died and three others were injured in the shooting.

These families have been living in Kokilai for many years though they are originally from Negombo and the outskirts of Duwa, Pitipana and Wellaveediya.
Though some of the villagers who fled the area after the attack had homes to go to in Negombo, about 50 of them had nowhere to go except to the two refugee camps that were put up for the tsunami-affected people. Once of these centres is at Duwa school.

With their livelihood being badly hit these fishermen lamented that for four years they had been living in peace, fishing freely and returning home without any fear. But now they say the tranquility has been shattered as the LTTE appeared to be targetting the villagers.

“In the past four years we went about our fishing, lived with our children freely and slept at night without any fear. But now I don’t know what our future will be if we decide to go back,”M. Christy Fernando who had sought refuge at Duwa school said.

Newton Silva (46) who has been living in Kokilai since his birth said they are once again undergoing the same kind of fear they felt before the Ceasefire Agreement was signed. He said before the ceasefire he and others had fled to the South on several occasions, in the face of LTTE attacks.

He said the last time he did so was in 1996 when the LTTE attacked some civilians. He said his father and 10 other villagers were killed by the LTTE in a horrendous attack in 1984.

These fishermen had abandoned their village in a fearful hurry, leaving behind their boats, engines and nets when the LTTE stared firing at them.Describing the attack, W. Roshika (27) who was hit by a shrapnel of a bullet fired by the LTTE said they never expected the attack and were taken by surprise when it occurred.

“My husband, my brother and I were mending a net on the beach when we saw three LTTE boats. They suddenly opened fire and we started running in panic. My brother was also injured ,” she said.

These refugees said that the government should strengthen the security in Kokilai if they were to return. They also alleged that there were only about 25 soldiers in the village’s army camp when they came under attack.

The plight of these villagers is even more pathetic because they were just recovering from the devastating effects of the 2004 tsunami. They lost most of their fishing gear to the wrath of nature at that time.“We were recovering gradually from those losses and now we have been affected once again,” lamented Sunil Fernando who is staying at the tsunami refugee centre.

More homeguards for vulnerable villages
Hundreds of homeguards are to be moved from the south to provide additional security to north-eastern villages thought to be vulnerable to attacks by the LTTE, a Defence Ministry official said yesterday.

Additional Secretary Chandra Senanayake said some thousand new homeguards would also be recruited soon. The tightening of security comes in the aftermath of the LTTE attacks on several villages including Gomarankadawala where six young farmers were killed.

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