File photograph: Tamil landowners protest against moves to acquire land for the Gotabaya naval base in Mullaitivu in 2022
Vanni MP Thurairasa Ravikaran has urged fisheries officials to demarcate the Arichalpadu fishing landing site in Mullivaikkal East, which is occupied by the Sri Lankan navy's Gotabaya naval camp, as authorities move to mark out the landing sites used by Tamil fishermen across Mullaitivu.
The Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi MP raised the issue with the assistant director of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources for Mullaitivu at a special meeting on demarcating fishing landing sites, held at the Karaithuraipattu Divisional Secretariat on 28 September, Ilakku reported .
The assistant director said the department was demarcating the 41 landing sites currently used by fishermen in Mullaitivu district. He said Arichalpadu would also be demarcated if its owner paid the fee for the landing site.
The naval camp in Mullivaikkal is named after the former Sri Lankan defence secretary and president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who is accused of war crimes and genocide against Tamils during the final stages of the armed conflict, which ended in Mullivaikkal in May 2009. Tens of thousands of Tamils were massacred and more remain unaccounted for.
In 2017, 617 acres of private Tamil land were gazetted for the expansion of what is known as the Vattuvakal Gotabaya naval base. Tamil landowners have since repeatedly blocked attempts to survey the land , refusing compensation and demanding its return. In 2022, landowners pushed back another attempt to expand the base despite intimidation by Sri Lankan police and navy personnel.
The Sri Lankan navy had earlier built permanent fences around the Mullivaikkal camp .
Ravikaran last week called for a legal case against Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the loss of Tamil land deeds during the war, as he demanded the release of more than 17,000 hectares of land in Mullaitivu held by Sri Lanka's Forest and Wildlife Conservation departments.
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