Sri Lankan Army closes Paruthithurai camp, restores land to Tamil owners

Following President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s victory in the country’s recent presidential elections.

The Sri Lankan Army ordered the closure of its camp at Paruthithurai in Sri Lanka’s Northern Tamil region. The order, issued by the Army headquarters, mandated that the camp be shut down and the land returned to its original owners within two weeks.

This decision followed President Dissanayake’s assurance during his first public meeting in Jaffna on November 11, where he promised to gradually return lands occupied by the government and military to their rightful owners. Dissanayake, who won the presidential elections with a pledge to address long-standing grievances in the Tamil community, also announced that political prisoners would soon be released.

The Paruthithurai camp, which was reportedly established in 1995 during the height of the civil war to monitor and disrupt supply chains to the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), remained operational even after the conflict ended. The Army continued to maintain the camp for monitoring potential threats, including the movement of LTTE-linked organisations and weapons supply through the sea.

Army personnel began vacating the premises on Monday evening, signalling the first steps toward fulfilling the President’s commitment.

Dissanayake is set to visit India in mid-December, as announced by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath on Monday. The visit follows an invitation extended by the Indian government, with Dissanayake expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his stay.