HRH Princess Anne visits minefield in Sri Lanka

In early January 2024, HALO Sri Lanka was delighted to welcome HRH Princess Anne. Her Royal Highness visited HALO's operations on the Jaffna Peninsula, where our teams have cleared 78,000 landmines from Muhamalai – the largest minefield in the country.

In the final stages of Sri Lanka's protracted civil war, Muhamalai was the Forward Defense Line between the Sri Lankan Army and Tamil Tiger forces. Tens of thousands of landmines were laid by both sides, forming a minefield the size of 1,470 football pitches (10.5 km sq).

During her visit, The Princess Royal and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, met local men and women trained by HALO to clear the mines. In total, across the northern districts of Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Jaffna, HALO Sri Lanka has safely destroyed over one million items of explosive ordnance, including over a quarter of a million anti-personnel mines.

Her Royal Highness then met Rasathurai Nallaiah and his wife Kesavi Rasathurai who have eight children. The family had to leave their land during the civil war, but have now been able to return and rebuild a home on part of the cleared former minefield. They showed Her Royal Highness their goats and the yams they are able to grow on their small holding.

"We are honoured to be able to show The Princess Royal the impact of our work on the lives of some of the poorest people in Sri Lanka, where safe land is incredibly important for them to be able to feed their families," said Stephen Hall, Programme Manager, Sri Lanka.

"Our work has contributed to rebuilding lives and supporting reconciliation in the north of the country. For 17 years we have been supported in this work by funding from the UK Government and it is a long-term partnership that has really made a huge difference to the lives of local people."