Introduction

This is a study of the consequences of inter-communal violence and its impact on a small community of Tamils ¹ living in the northern Jaffna ² peninsula of Sri Lanka. This area had become geographically isolated following the onset of war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), some twenty years before a ceasefire was called in 2002. This ceasefire held for four years between 2002 and 2006, and provided the last opportunity for a negotiated peace settlement. Instead, it proved to be only the precursor to a renewed outbreak of hostilities that killed thousands and eventually culminated in a unilateral declaration of peace by the Sri Lankan government in 2009. Despite this claim to victory, the far-reaching effects of the war remain not only for the inhabitants of the north and east, but also for the island as a whole. Despite the whole-scale rebuilding and restructuring of the north, the re-integration of local communities and the rebuilding of social relationships between Tamils and their Sinhalese neighbours is yet to take place. Jaffna, along with the eastern region bore the brunt of most of the violence leading up to the cessation of hostilities: as a result, there have been fundamental alterations that have affected personal lives, as well as socio-economic, political and ecological conditions across the entire region.