There are no more guns booming over Mawilaru. No more refugees, in their thousands fleeing under fire, no more make shift beds under the night skies, no more rotting bodies near the giant rock at Thoppur. It is all silent and calm.

The IDPs have returned to their homes, the water gushes through the Kallar canal, where the river bed baked and cracked a year back when the Tigers closed the Mawilaru sluice gates. The infamous anicut is under renovation now.

On July 22 last year the Tigers closed the gates and triggered the bout of fighting that has continued to date. Since December 2006, over 4000 have perished in the fighting, at least 1500 civilians among them. More than 300,000 were forced out of their homes during the same time period. The fighting that concentrated on Mawilaru spread all over the east and a year after the closure the Tigers are active in pockets only, the largest concentration suspected to be in the jungles of Peraru, north west of Mawilaru. Military suspects that around 200 or more Tigers, possibly lead by former eastern military wing head Ramesh are hiding in the jungles.

The occasional artillery fire that erupts from camps in Trincomalee is directed at Peraru where at least one confrontation between Tigers and government forces has been reported deep in the jungles, north of Mawilaru in late July.

One more incident took place in Tambalagamuwa when fleeing Tigers fought with troops two weeks back.

The artillery and multi-barrel fire are now a trickle compared to a year back, when camps on the ridges of the Trincomalee bay kept peppering Tiger bases in Sampur continuously. The Tigers also used their long range weapons to target ships that were using the harbour, like the attack on Jetliner on August 9, 2006. At least on one occasion the artillery fell on adjacent areas, once on the roof of a truck parked outside the Prima factory

The Mawilaru face-off saw army camps and Tiger gun positions trade artillery fire on either side of the main highways that link towns like Muttur and Kantale as scared civilians fled with whatever they could grab. But now it is all quiet at Mawilaru.

The government however is not taking any chances, security is on alert. Check points dot the towns and checking is strict. In areas formerly under the control of the Tigers, movement of outsiders is heavily monitored. NGOs, journalists and others need specific permission sometimes in writing to work in areas like Ichchilampaththu and Kelliveddi where there is still a large concentration of IDPs.

Vehicles coming out of the east, especially those heading to southern cities are rigorously checked. They have to obtain a pass in triplicate and show them at other check points along the way.

All large trucks have to unload at Habarana or some other large checkpoint unless checked and sealed at the point of departure by security forces.

Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake speaking in parliament last week during the extension of the emergency debate said that the check points were in place for the safety of the civilians.

Security is a major concern for all alike. The Tigers may have lost ground but are not out of the equation by any means, as the murder of the Eastern Provincial Council Secretary demonstrated.

Security has also kept some of the civilians who fled the fighting out of their homes for one year and will keep them away for longer.

When fighting broke out last August, the Sinhalese in villages like Somapura, Mahindapura, Kallar, south of Muttur and the Muslims of Muttur sought refuge in Kantale, a predominantly Sinhala town.

The Tamils fled to LTTE held areas like Ichchilampaththu, Kadiraveli and beyond, along the Muttur Valachchenai road. The journey along the southern highway was dangerous and long.

Some walked for days to reach Valaichchenai over 80 km away and Batticaloa even further away, where they stayed in camps. Some later moved to Trincomalee when the government commenced its resettlement programme.

Those who still remain in the camps at Muttur and Ichchilampaththu — estimates vary between 4000 and 5000 — cannot return because parts of Muttur and Sampur have been declared a high security zone.

Forty seven year old Kanapathipillai Tangarasa now lives in a row of tin roofed shacks, temporary shelters that are fast becoming permanent, just north of Trincomalee. He has moved there from Trincomalee and now awaits government clearance to move out.

That will not come any time soon — those displaced like Tangarasa cannot return to their original homes and the authorities are yet to provide alternate locations.

"I like to go back to my home in Ichchilampaththu, but can’t," he says staring at the distant bay. Over 100 others live in the row of shelters where drinking water, food and electricity are provided.

Displaced like Tangarasa are loath to move around far because of the security situation, their identity cards say that they are from the Sampur area and they don’t want to risk uninvited trouble.

"I don’t want to go anywhere else, I like to go back, I am a fisherman and I only know that," said Tangarasa, who tried in vain to hide his growing alcoholism.

It is unlikely that his village will face the sort of fire it did last year, but is no reason for the displaced to feel at ease. The military wants the areas secure in its control as the Tiger artillery fire that threatened the functioning of the harbour came from them. There is also talk of a coal power plant and an economic zone, though details remain sketchy.

The Tiger big guns that were stationed around Sampur are no more and the pockets are in the deep jungles. They could carry out targeted attacks, but not major operations. The security forces have come to accept the fact, while security in public areas has been heightened, the navy two weeks back informed the SLMM that it was not launching major operations on Tigers in Peraru as the latter was disorganised.

The northern battle front, at least the Vavuniya FDL is likely to see some respite. As predicted last month, both the Tigers and the military have agreed to open the Madhu Road to allow pilgrims to travel to the shrine for the feast on August 15. But the pilgrims would not be taking that road, due to security fears — they will have to use the Uliyankulam crossover point further west, the Madhu Road is likely to remain closed.

Fighting in the area had already eased in the last two weeks, and the lull is likely to remain at least till the feast concludes, though there were reports of a confrontation about 20 km north of Madhu late last week.

It is a year since Mawilaru and a lot of water has flowed through the sluice gates, so much so that no one would dare guess the ground situation a year from now.

UN Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes did not leave the country with instant results. Instead at the conclusion of his visit he said that he expected to see the outcome of his visit in the coming weeks.

The government however will have very little time on any pledges made to Holmes; there are at least three other top UN rankers billed to visit the country in the next six months.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Louise Arbor is on top of the list and will be here in October.

It was during Holmes’ stay that the government came out in the open stating it was principally committed to disarm the Karuna Group.

Holmes also stated that it was the government’s responsibility to disarm the Karuna Group as humanitarian work would be affected due to the presence of armed men other than those belonging to the police and the three forces.

Holmes’ visit coincided with the first year anniversary of the 17 ACF humanitarian workers who were murdered during the violence in Muttur last year

"Humanitarian work is not the safest profession. However, they need to be protected and should never be targeted," Holmes said.

He also stressed the need for improvement in the interaction between the government and humanitarian agencies including the UN.

Aid workers in the country both in the government-controlled and Tiger-controlled areas, especially in the conflict areas have continuously faced threats to their lives due to the hostilities.

Holmes also urged the Tigers to allow humanitarian workers to carry out their work.

Two UN workers were abducted in the Tiger held areas in the north and were later released following negotiations.

The Human Rights Commission in Jaffna said many of its workers were quitting work due to threats.

The government however stated that the LTTE had abducted more aid workers and were keeping them.

"There should be absolute transparency as far as the humanitarian issues are concerned. The issues raised by human rights organisations such as the Human Rights Watch should be taken into consideration and should be investigated," he added.

The UN Under Secretary General had visited the north and east during his four-day stay in the country.

Civic groups in Colombo raised concerns against the security forces for not allowing civil organisations to meet Holmes in Jaffna.

He dismissed claims that the security forces had not allowed the civilians to meet him in the areas he had visited. "I was in Jaffna only for four hours and met some of the people. I could have met more if I did not have commitments in Colombo. However, the security was also tight. They wanted to make sure there were no shortcomings in the security provided to me," he said.

A joint statement released by a group of organisations including the Free Media Movement, Center for Policy Alternatives and other human rights organisations alleged that the military had obstructed civilians and civil society representatives from meeting the Under Secretary General in the Jaffna Library on August 7.

"The military commander called for a meeting at Palaly military headquarters, at which NGOs and civil society representatives were instructed not to refer to human rights issues and to restrict themselves to issues of humanitarian assistance during their meeting with Mr. Holmes," the statement said.

"I would have met all if I had more time," was Holmes’ response on this issue. 

The issue of international monitors was also brought up during the visit. The government was of the view that the international organisations should work with Sri Lanka in improving the local bodies which monitor human rights violations.

Minister Samarasinghe stated that involvement of international organisations would only be limited to improve the local bodies.

However, the government has been urged to call in international monitors to look into the human rights violations in the country by many HR organisations and political parties, including the main opposition UNP.

The government came under severe criticism both locally and internationally following increasing human rights violations in the country during the recent past.

Holmes however declined to comment on this issue citing that he was more into the humanitarian issues rather than the human rights violations in the country and the monitors.

Paramilitaries must be disarmed — Minister Samarasinghe

What it took was a one liner — "The General Officer Commanding (Maj. Gen. Daya Rathnayake) told the SLMM it was a requirement to disarm the Karuna Group in order to restore normalcy in the east," and the government is unlikely to hear the last of it for sometime.

Since Maj. Gen. Rathnayake’s comments were made public in an SLMM situation report two weeks back many have been the calls to government top rankers to verify whether this was the official position of the Mahinda Rajapakse administration.

"Our position has been that paramilitary groups have to be disarmed," Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights, Mahinda Samarasinghe said at the press conference with visiting UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes.

He did not venture into details or the strategy only adding that it would be a difficult task.

Holmes said that in his discussions he had raised the issue of disarming the Karuna Group. "I found a clear determination to disarm the Karuna faction," he said.

However, the Karuna Group still maintains that there was no pressure from the government to lay down arms.

For the second week running SLMM reported that the group was holding civilians in their offices in the east. The monitors said that police had informed the Karuna Group had held 43 civilians at their office in Tirukovil in the Ampara District.