Nesan (Mudiyappu Antony Iruthayanathan) and his family were forced to leave their village in northern Sri Lanka three years ago because of the civil conflict which ended in May 2009. They were finally able to return in July 2010 thanks to mine clearance work funded by AusAID.
On their return to their village, Nesan and his family, including two daughters, found their house irreparably damaged in the fighting and the paddy fields still fenced off due to mine contamination. Until their displacement, Nesan was cultivating six acres of rented paddy land. He also had a small shop in the village which provided additional income.
Nesan was able to restart his shop using a loan and money he had saved. He says this was made possible by emergency mine clearance work by the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a UK-based mine action NGO, supported by AusAID.
'Because of the great work MAG has done, my family and I were able to return to our home and restart my shop. I especially thank them for clearing my shop', says Nesan.
Nesan added that two days after his family returned, the school and the local church were also released and MAG had provided mine risk awareness briefings which are critical to ensure villagers remain safe.
After uncovering 1,260 anti-personnel landmines, Nesan's village was cleared of mines and 142 families have now returned. Clearance work will continue to clear the paddy fields surrounding the village.
Demining remains a critical first step in enabling displaced people to return to their homes. Around two-thirds of Sri Lanka's Northern Province contains areas contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance. This prevents resettlement and constrains economic and social opportunities.
In October 2009, the Australian Government announced a new five-year, $20 million initiative to accelerate the pace of demining in Sri Lanka. Australia's funding has expanded Sri Lanka's mine clearance capacity by providing clearance equipment and deploying additional demining teams. Australian funding for mine-risk education has contributed to comparatively low death and injury rates caused by mines or explosive ordnance. Australia works with the Sri Lankan Government's Humanitarian Demining Unit and several local and international demining agencies.