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Kantale: Now a town of refugees
Kantale has virtually been turned into a refugee town with thousands of residents, displaced by clashes between government forces and the LTTE, in Mutur and Serunuwara seeking safety in this town. With authorities finding it difficult to provide adequate accommodation, food and other amenities, desperate refugees are putting up temporary shelters wherever they can find space-even on roadsides. Authorities say they have accounted for about 26,500 refugees staying in refugee centres, while there are many more unaccounted for, who are staying in makeshift camps along the roadside.
According to latest official figures there are 7334 refugees in Perathuveli Muslim School, 7227in Ayesha Muslim School, 6318 in Al Tharik Muslim School, 1500 in Al Rauf Muslim School, 954 in Assapa Muslim School, 1271 in Al Muniri mosque, 1127 in Agrabhodi Pirivena, 246 in the restroom of the railway station and 165 in the Batukachchiya Muslim School. The whole town is beginning to look like one big refugee centre, with scenes of refugees streaming in on foot, or being transported in vehicles, volunteers distributing food and other essentials, officials collecting data on these displaced people, and refugees going in search of relatives and friends. Those who have not been lucky enough to find shelter in schools or mosques or camp sites have put up makeshift shelters under the shade of trees or carts. Some have even put together gunny bags and have sought shelter under it.
In some cases the situation is so bad that desperate
refugees say they would rather go back to their homes and even face
the security risk rather than live in conditions they are undergoing
at present.. Although K.D.S Suriyabandara, a camp-coordinating officer appointed by the Kantale Divisional Secretariat said that the government was providing adequate food and other facilities, the refugees we spoke to in the camps had a different story. Most of them said they were getting very little assistance from the government and they were surviving on assistance mainly from NGOs. “We have been staying in this overcrowded camp for about two weeks but not a single government official came to see about our welfare,” said Mohammed Hafees while waiting in line for a loaf of bread at the Al Tharik Muslim school.
Although the refugees appeared to be thankful to the assistance of NGOs and we saw many of them helping out in many ways, government officials at the camps held a different view.They accused NGO workers of distributing aid randomly and being more interested in posing for photographs with those they had helped. Some of the refugees spoke about what they feel the government should do if they are to return to their homes in Mutur and Serunuwara.They insist that army bunkers be built in Sampoor, Senayur and Rarkuli to protect them from LTTE threats in the future. “I want to go back home. I left all my valuables and came but they will chase us again. The government should see that bunkers are put up at strategic points so that we don’t have to live in fear all the time,” said A.J. Ansar from Mutur whose elder brother died in an artillery attack by the LTTE. There were others who recalled the terror and chaos that prevailed when they were caught in the fighting between the armed forces and the LTTE. S.Dawood (64) from Mutur described the intense battles that broke out on August 3 that forced many to seek refuge in a mosque which however was hit by a motar that killed five people including his son-in-law and injured about 40.As the battle intensified the next day about 2000 Muslim residents started fleeing the area. On the way he recalled how they had been stopped by LTTE cadres who had asked them to take the route through the jungle as the main road had been mined. He said as they started going through the jungle they were suddenly accosted by LTTE cadres whose faces had been covered. “We were held there from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The LTTE cadres then picked out the young and strong looking men and tied them up. Suddenly there was the sound of artillery fire. Some who were with us died on the spot while we started running for our dear lives. However the younger men who were tied up couldn’t come away with us,” Dawood said. K.D.N. Kumara a Year 11 student from Serunuwara recounted his painful experience when he was hit by a bullet in his stomach at 6.30 in the morning on August 2 . “I was going to see my brother when I was hit by a bullet. I was later admitted to hospital and thereafter was brought to this camp where I’m now”, Kumara said while resting at the Agrabhodi Pirivena. His mother Premasili Ramyalatha whose husband had gone missing in 1994 at the height of the war said they lived near the Serunuwara police station and when the LTTE started attacking the police they fled to Kantale. She said thay had chosen to live close to the police station after the LTTE had attacked Mahindapura in an earlier incident when they were living there. J.A.Muthumanike from the same area said that she fled leaving everything behind. She said she had bought six-acres of paddy field after mortgaging even her gold jewellery. Most of the refugees who have sought refuge in Kantale are Muslims. About 1500 Sinhalese too are staying in two camps at the Agrabhodi Pirivena and a restroom at the railway station of Kantale. With the rainy season starting these refugees fear that they are certain to face more hardships .
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Kusum
Kanthi a mother of four said her husband had been killed by
the LTTE. The little paddy she had cultivated was now all
destroyed after the closing of the anicut and she fears that
there is no future for her and her children. 
