Caritas builds jungle homes for displaced Hindus

(December 07, 2010) A “Caritas Belgium” home building program near Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka, is enabling displaced landless Hindu families return to their traditional home regions. Caritas officials have cleared a jungle and are now carrying building materials along dirt roads to build 45 houses at a cost of US$170,000 said Samithamby Oliver Jeya-nandan, coordinator of Caritas Batticaloa.
A Caritas Belgium team has visited the four remote jungle villages of Ilukkupothaanai, Muththankumaraveli, Vilaanthottamin and Eralakulam, 56 kilometers northwest of Batticaloa, to inspect the project.
Several families were forced to flee the area in 2007, after fighting broke out between Tamil rebels and Sri Lankan government forces. State forces took full control of the jungles and villages in the east the same year and resettled some people, while other families remained displaced. Most of these displaced people were landless Hindus from jungle areas, who depended on hunting, selling firewood and herding. They faced great difficulties as displaced people in refugee towns. Three months after being resettled, the people are already showing their gratitude. Father Sritharan Sylvester, head of Caritas Batticaloa, said the completion of the houses was urgent so that people could develop the local economy, focus on educating their children and establish sustainable independent lives for their families.