Myliddy Landowners Enter Sixth Month of Continuous Protest Against Military Occupation of Their Land

Demonstration Outside Military Bungalow Enters 24th Consecutive Week

Landowners from Myliddy in northern Sri Lanka have marked 24 weeks of uninterrupted protest outside a Sri Lankan military bungalow, as their long-running campaign to reclaim land occupied by the armed forces shows no sign of resolution.

The demonstration, which has now stretched across nearly six months, reflects the deep frustration of residents who say their lands remain in the possession of the military long after the end of the civil war, preventing them from returning to and cultivating their rightful properties.

A Community Demanding What Is Theirs

The landowners have maintained their vigil with remarkable persistence, gathering week after week outside the military bungalow in a peaceful but determined show of resistance. For many of those involved, the land in question represents not only their livelihoods but also their ancestral heritage and identity.

Residents of the Myliddy area, located in the Jaffna Peninsula, have for years been among those most affected by continued military land retention in the north — a deeply sensitive issue that has drawn sustained criticism from Tamil community leaders, civil society organisations, and human rights advocates both locally and internationally.

Broader Context of Land Disputes in the North

The protest at Myliddy is part of a wider pattern of grievances among northern communities, where thousands of acres of private and community land have remained under military control since the conclusion of the armed conflict in 2009. Despite repeated government pledges to release such land, progress has been widely criticised as slow and inadequate.

• Affected families have been unable to return to their homes and farmlands for years.
• Many displaced landowners continue to live in temporary accommodation or with relatives.
• Calls for full demilitarisation of the north have grown louder in recent years.

As the protest enters its 25th week, demonstrators say they will not relent until the government takes concrete steps to return their land and restore their rights as citizens of Sri Lanka.