Tourist paradise for some - but still living hell for many Tamils

THE roadblocks have been dismantled, the sandbags removed, and Sri Lanka is again a palm-fringed tourist paradise, the government says.

But for ethnic Tamils living in the former war zone, it is still a hell of haunted memories, military occupation and missing loved ones.

Hundreds of thousands remain homeless, and no effort has been made to reunite families separated two years ago during the final bloody months of the war between the now-defeated Tamil separatists and the ethnic Sinhalese-dominated government.

A power-sharing programme the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, promised to enact after the 25-year conflict has gone nowhere.

In the meantime, the government has worked hard to project an image of peace and redemption to the world. It insists Tamils have embraced its plan to rebuild homes and shattered lives. It is playing up the Indian Ocean island's reputation as a tourist destination, building airports, seaports and new roads. It has even ordered an army headquarters to be converted into a luxury beach hotel.

But in the ethnic Tamil heartland in the north, resentment is building.

From the school where he sleeps at night, principal Asirvatham Soosainathar watches the troops who are still living in his house in the village of Murikandy. At weekends, he visits his family in the home they have rented 50 miles away.

More than 100 families in the village were displaced by troops, and the government has promised to return their homes soon. But in two years, Mr Soosainathar, 44, has seen no evidence of it.

"I have 106 coconut trees on my land, but nowadays I have to pay for my coconut," he said. "The army has been telling me for two years that it will leave my house, but they are still cultivating my land."

Many Tamils fear the soldiers in their homes are the vanguard of a government plan to send in majority Sinhalese settlers to dilute Tamil power and prevent any new push for a separate homeland. Tamil MPs say the military is seizing land that was in private hands before the war. "The army is doing everything to be there permanently," said Suresh Premachandran, MP, of the Tamil National Alliance. "They are putting up permanent camps and are very much part of the entire administrative system in the northern province."

Electricity has been restored and roads repaired. Supermarkets, banks and internet cafes have opened in areas closed to business during the war.

But many people whose homes were destroyed continue to live under tents or in small huts covered only by tin sheets. Many families who lost their belongings and breadwinners remain in extreme poverty.

On the other hand, military camps have mushroomed and grand monuments have been erected to honour the fallen soldiers. The army runs roadside restaurants catering to Sinhalese tourists who have flocked to see areas recaptured from the rebels.

The government insists it is pursuing reconciliation and taking care of the victims.

"Rapid resettlement and economic empowerment is taking place … though obviously much more needs to be done," said Rajiva Wijesinha, an MP and adviser to Mr Rajapaksa. He denied the military was taking over private land, and said it would pay compensation for any land it acquired.

Ananthi, a mother of three who goes by only one name, is still searching for husband Sinnathurai Sasitharan, a political leader of the Tamil Tigers whom she last saw being escorted away by the military after surrendering on 18 May, 2009. "He was not going to surrender. He wanted to send me off and commit suicide by swallowing cyanide," she said. "But I cried and begged him to surrender so that he could live the rest of his life for his family."

Though the government announced it had rehabilitated many of the 11,000 former rebels it captured at the end of the war, the relatives of many rebel fighters last seen accompanied by soldiers say they have never been told their whereabouts. Families have searched in hospitals, camps and detention centres.

Sandana Murugaiah, a father of seven, is awaiting news about a son and daughter forcibly conscripted by the Tamil Tigers and not heard from since the war ended."I do not know if they survived the fighting," he said.