Colombo (AsiaNews) – More than 100,000 Muslims and 97 Sinhalese families want to go home to Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka. The separatist Tamil Tigers (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) forced them out in 1990. In order to repatriate them, the Sri Lankan government is trying to get Muslim nations to provide economic aid. So far however, legal hurdles have prevented their return.

Sri Lanka’s Minister of Industry and Commerce Rishard Bathiyutheen said that he and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa contacted the ambassadors of several Muslim countries to demand financial aid. They said they were able to get on their side the ambassadors of Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, and Libya and are confident that aid will come.

Last week, 97 Sinhalese families also tried to regain possession of their old homes, but were unable to do so for lack of papers showing legal ownership.

Douglas Devananda, minister of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development, visited these families, assuring them that they would get food and basic goods as they wait to be resettled. However, “It is impossible to repatriate these people right away because of questions over ownership,” he said.

These families had to leave their homes 20 years ago. When they found out that their resettlement might take three months, they staged a protest at Jaffna railway station, refusing to budge until the authorities did not bring them to their homes.