ABSTRACT
Internally displaced persons (IDPs), that is, those who have been forcibly displaced within national borders, remain in closer proximity to the conflict and the causes of their displacement. Sri Lanka has experienced a long drawn out life cycle of ethnic war spanning over the past 25 years. This chapter briefly sketches the origins and phases of the war, key stakeholders and ethnic groups, and the consequences in terms of mass displacement of affected civilians. Protracted internal displacement crises leave people exposed to risks and threats to their security and livelihoods over a prolonged period of time. Internal displacement in Sri Lanka is one such case in which protracted war, political violence and polarization of society along ethno-political lines has produced protracted, multiple, fluid and hidden forms of displacement and has generated chronic human insecurity. The chapter also contextualizes the key features of displacement in the east, with particular reference to Trincomalee.
