The remaining United Nations (UN) staff leave the Wanni following a government statement that it could not guarantee the safety of aid workers because of increased fighting.
Timeline of events under "Internal displacement" issue
A gazette notification by the Sri Lankan government blocks the resettlement of displaced Tamils in Sampur and Muttur East in Trincomalee following the designation of the areas as a High Security Zone (HSZ).
UNHCR estimates that between 120,000-150,000 people were displaced during the escalation of violence in the recent months. More than 40,000 were displaced in a single week in March 2007.
LTTE attacks Muttur. Fighting displaces thousands of Muslims.
Communal riots follow an explosion in a market in Trincomalee town. The bomb blast and the ensuing riots leave over 20 civilians dead, over 30 shops and 100 homes destroyed by fire and over 3,000 persons displaced and seeking refuge in schools and places of worship.
Almost 40,000 people are killed and 2.5 million displaced when a tsunami devastates coastal communities in the North, East and South of the island. The Government declares a national disaster.
First Meeting of the Sub-Committee on Immediate Humanitarian and Rehabilitation Needs in the North and East (SIHRN).
The LTTE invites displaced Sinhalese to return home: the LTTE Batticaloa district leadership invites displaced Sinhalese from the district to return to their home villages.
The Sri Lankan army launches a new offensive and advances northeast-ward into the area around Oddusuddan, displacing some 12,000 people, some forcibly.
Operation Jayasikuru is in to its twelfth month and has resulted in over 70,000 newly displaced persons, adding to the 300,000 IDPs who were already in the Vanni. The military confirmed the death toll of some 1,100 soldiers plus over 3,000 wounded.
Thousands are displaced when the military forces launch a massive operation in the northern Vanni region for control of a key highway that would give it land access to the former LTTE stronghold of Jaffna. The operation is codenamed Jayasikuru or 'Victory Assured'.
Expulsion of an estimated 70-100,000 Muslims from the Northern province by the LTTE. It is reported that Muslims were ordered to leave, giving them between 2 and 48 hours notice.
Military forces evict Tamils from 5 GS Divisions in the Mullaitivu District, from Tennemaravady in Trincomalee District and from Manal Aru to Weli Oya.
Communal riots in Colombo, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Batticaloa, Eravur and Kurunegala during May and June. An estimated 300-400 killed, over 2,000 incidents of arson, looting and assault, and 12,000 'Ceylonese' (Tamils) displaced from the riots.
The Government of Sri Lanka announces a complete victory against the LTTE. Its military forces recaptured all remaining LTTE controlled territories in the Northern Province, including notably Killinochchi (2 January), the Elephant Pass (9 January) and the ultimately the entire district of Mullaitivu (18 May).
