Background
On the 19th of May 2009 the Government of Sri Lanka declared the 25 year long conflict between Government forces and the Liberation Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) over. During the final months of the conflict an estimated 300,000 people fled the northern areas and were accommodated in camps in Vavuniya, Mannar and Jaffna Districts. By the beginning of 2011 the majority of people had left the camps and returned to their home areas in the north. However, a large number of returnees are still residing with host families, or accommodated in temporary settlements unable to return to their homes due principally to the mine threat.

Although the full extent of the mine and UXO contamination is not fully known, it is realistic to assume that clearance will continue in the short to medium term before the safe return and reintegration of the all the IDPs. This is supported by a recently released National Mine Action Strategy paper. In addition to the IDP created in 2009, there are an estimated additional 300,000 IDPs who have been displaced for 10 or more years and are also waiting for safe access to their places of origin. Many of the latter group will be very vulnerable to mine threats, as they have not been in the areas for many years, and are therefore even less aware of the threats and safe/unsafe areas.

An estimation of the scope of the contamination and the resources is constantly being reviewed. The GOSL and mine action organisations are predicting a further 2-3 years of demining necessary to complete and release all the High and Medium priority tasks, and 5-6 years remove the residual threat to declare Sri Lanka mine free.

DDG interventions
Initially Danish Demining Group’s (DDG) Sri Lanka programme focused on supporting the 2002 ceasefire and peace process by clearing land for resettlement and development in the eastern region. With renewed conflict in July 2006, DDG entered into an emergency clearance phase in support of the IDPs driven from their homes by the fighting. This national effort focused on clearing contaminated villages which was hindering the return of the civil population.

Following the end of the conflict in May 2009, in accordance with government priorities, mine clearance was given high priority status. DDG, along with other mine action agencies and donors, responded by almost doubling the clearance capacity, whilst relocating operations from the East of the country to the areas formerly held by the LTTE.

DDG currently operates in Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Vavuniya Districts with a field office in Jaffna and two field camps in Vavuniya and Kilinochchi Districts (Jeyapuram, Vanni Division). Project sites depend on the national priority list coordinated with the Regional Mine Action Offices, local authorities and the other mine action organisations in country.

DDG’s current capacity is 14 manual demining teams, 4 survey teams and 4 mechanical ground preparation units (armoured JCBs) and rakes. Clearance equipment includes metal detectors. We have 3 internationals and 470 nationals on staff.

DDG always seeks to employ locally, especially IDPs, and has a focus on gender balance in order to assure equal opportunities for both men and women and ensuring income opportunity to both sexes. Due to the hard physical work of manual demining the majority of our staff are men; however, since the procurement of 60 metal detectors in 2011 10% of our de-miners are now female. In addition, one of our survey teams is an all-female team, and many of our medics and support staff are female.

Impact monitoring
The DDG Impact Monitoring tool was implemented in Sri Lanka in late 2010 and we have conducted surveys on 60% of sites during 2011. Reports are distributed to donors and relevant stakeholders.

Donor support
Funding secured for 2012 is provided by US Department of State (PMWRA), Swedish development agency (SIDA), and Australian Government (AusAID). Despite the generosity of these donors the DDG Sri Lanka programme is still only 40% secure for 2012 and unless additional funding /donors are sourced then capacity reduction is inevitable. This would come at a time when it is imperative to maintain the national capacity in order to meet the GOSL and international targets for returns and reintegration.