DISPLACED MUSLIMS OF SRI LANKA

Sri Lankan Muslims displaced during the country’s decades-long civil war are slowly returning home, but the challenge of reconciling with their Tamil neighbours, and their past, remains. About 75,000 Muslims were evicted in October 1990 from the northern districts of Jaffna, Mannar, Kilinochchi, Mullaithivu and some parts of Vavuniya by the now-defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Muslims had fled to government-controlled areas in the country’s north and centre, with the majority ending up in Puttalam district. Since the expulsion took place nearly 20 years ago, a generation of Muslims and Tamils has grown up without experiencing the event.