I. SITUATION OVERVIEW & HIGHLIGHTS
Returns and displacement
By the end of December 2012, 467,533 people (140,725 families) had returned to the Northern Province. This figure includes 267,865 people (80,292 families) displaced after April 2008 and 199,668 people (55,273 families) displaced before April 2008 1 .
With the closure of Menik Farm IDP camp in Vavuniya district, there are no ‘new IDPs’ living in camps in the country. An additional 5,785 IDPs (1,592 families) from the protracted or long-term caseload, displaced prior to April 2008, remained in welfare centres in Jaffna and Vavuniya districts.
The Joint Humanitarian and Early Recovery Updates (JHERU) has published monthly the IDP statistics compiled by UNHCR from Government source data. From December 2012 UNHCR will no longer compile IDP statistics.
The Government and the UN are committed to finding solutions for displaced people, who sought shelter with friends and relatives, left camps and are still living with host families, or are stranded in transit sites. Additionally long-term IDPs seek assistance to reclaim their homes and properties or integrate in their host communities
The cluster system in Sri Lanka which was established in Sri Lanka in 2008 to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the Northern Province was reviewed in 2012. The cluster deactivation plan is underway. Protection concerns will remain closely followed up on.
Aligning with this cluster transition, this is the last JHERU to be produced. Starting in February 2013 a Humanitarian Bulletin will be issued, initially every two months.