The record
- Oct 1990
LTTE orders the removal of the Muslim population from the Northern Province. Departure notice in some districts is a matter of hours; property, cash and jewellery are confiscated at exit points.
- 1990s–2000s
Long-term displacement, much of it concentrated in Puttalam district, with camp-based living across a generation and a distinct 'Northern Muslim' displaced identity documented by Sri Lankan civil society.
- 2002 talks
The question of Northern Muslim return enters the negotiation record. Muslim political and civil-society bodies argue their file must be heard in its own voice, not through Tamil or Sinhala intermediaries.
- Post-2009
Partial return begins. Land occupation, documentation loss, and competing post-war land claims complicate restitution; Centre for Policy Alternatives and other bodies document the pattern institutionally.
- Standing
No completed accountability process addresses the expulsion. It sits, like the state-violence files, in the unfinished column — which is exactly why both belong in the same archive.