Eight years after the Office on Missing Persons was established, thousands of Sri Lankan families continue their long fight for truth, justice and closure amid slow progress and new mass grave discoveries.
For decades, grieving families across Sri Lanka have marched, protested and pleaded for answers about loved ones who vanished during successive periods of violence. From the 1971 JVP insurrection and the brutal 1988-89 uprising to the nearly three-decade civil war that ended in 2009, enforced disappearances have left an enduring scar on the nation. Today, many of those families still wait for definitive information on the fate of the missing, even as the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) reports incremental advances and the government pledges renewed support.
The scale of the tragedy remains staggering. Sri Lanka ranks among the countries with the highest numbers of enforced disappearances globally, second only to Iraq in cases registered with the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. Estimates from human rights organisations range from 60,000 to as high as 100,000 cases since the 1980s, encompassing civilians, combatants and security force personnel. The OMP, established under Act No. 14 of 2016 and operational since 2018, was created precisely to address this legacy: to investigate disappearances, provide relief to victims’ families, and help prevent recurrence. Yet eight years on, questions persist about how far that mandate has been fulfilled.
Building a Database Amid Practical Obstacles
OMP Chairman Mahesh Katulanda recently outlined the institution’s progress at a media briefing tied to the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. The office has received around 42,000 complaints over the years from various commissions, agencies and presidential inquiries. After filtering duplicates and incomplete records – complicated by the absence of identity documents for many during conflict years, spelling variations, and handwritten ledgers from earlier eras – the active database now stands at more than 23,352 missing persons. Of these, 16,966 are classified as civilian cases of enforced disappearance under active investigation, alongside files on missing military and police personnel.
Officers have conducted one-on-one interviews with members of nearly 9,700 families, gathering details on the circumstances of each disappearance and offering preliminary support. Katulanda acknowledged early challenges in creating a reliable database but said the office has largely overcome multiple entries. Government support has strengthened operations: a Rs. 375 million allocation has enabled the formation of investigation committees, and approval has been granted to recruit 69 additional officers, including lawyers, tracing experts and psychosocial specialists. Officials emphasise that the OMP functions with a degree of independence despite its status as a state institution.
Certificates of Absence and Limited Forms of Redress
For many families, practical needs compound the emotional torment. In 2016, provisions allowed relatives to apply for a Certificate of Absence (CoA), intended to unlock certain administrative services similar to those available with a death certificate, without permanently closing the case. OMP Commissioner Mirak Raheem has noted public misconceptions about the certificate, with some families fearing that acceptance would halt further searches. To date, recommendations have led to Certificates of Absence for hundreds of families – figures cited in recent government updates range from several hundred issued to over 2,700 recommended – alongside a smaller number of Certificates of Death. Revival payments, a form of interim financial relief, have reached more than 5,000 individuals, with additional families recommended for upcoming disbursements.
Raheem stressed the state’s constitutional and legal obligations under the Enforced Disappearances Act to provide answers and redress. The OMP, he said, embodies that commitment. Complementary efforts include referrals to the Office for Reparations for compensation, psychosocial support, housing assistance, education and livelihood programmes. A special committee that includes family representatives is examining a more comprehensive relief package.
Mass Graves and the Search for Remains
A critical and highly sensitive part of the OMP’s work involves observing investigations into mass graves. At least 17 such sites have been identified since 2018, with several cases ongoing. The office facilitates funding, recommends technical steps to courts, and advocates multidisciplinary approaches involving forensic archaeology, anthropology and genetics – skills not always readily available for complex sites. Recent discoveries, including the Chemmani site near Jaffna where remains of more than 100 people (including children) have been uncovered, have reignited public attention and calls for independent expertise. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, visiting the area, underscored the need for thorough, expert-led investigations to establish the truth.
Human rights groups and families continue to highlight the limited forensic capacity and the absence of comprehensive national DNA or ante-mortem databases as major hurdles. Progress in identifying remains and returning them with dignity remains slow, leaving many without even the possibility of a burial.
Recent Concerns and Calls for Accountability
While the bulk of cases date to past conflicts, recent incidents keep the issue alive. The Committee for Protecting Rights of Prisoners lodged complaints with the Human Rights Commission and the OMP after several inmates at Negombo prison were reported missing following unrest in July. Although authorities later confirmed the individuals’ locations, relatives were initially denied contact, prompting accusations that the withholding of information itself constituted a form of enforced disappearance under the 2018 Act. OMP officials have indicated they will examine such matters.
Broader criticism persists. International observers, including Human Rights Watch and the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, have pointed to the very small number of cases in which the fate of disappeared persons has been fully clarified – only a few dozen according to some reports – and the continuing climate of impunity. Families in the North and East frequently report surveillance, intimidation and legal harassment when they campaign for justice. Many express deep distrust of domestic mechanisms, viewing them as insufficient without prosecutions of those responsible and greater international involvement.
The current government has signalled political willingness to accelerate the process. Justice Ministry officials have spoken of completing preliminary investigations by the end of 2027, expanding staff and resources, and including family representatives on the OMP board. National commemorations, including events in Jaffna, have featured commitments not to abandon the issue. Yet families and activists insist that financial support and certificates, while helpful, cannot substitute for truth and accountability.
The Human Cost of Unresolved Grief
Behind every statistic is a family living with profound uncertainty. Mothers and wives who have spent decades holding photographs at roadside protests, children who grew up without fathers, and ageing parents who fear they will die without answers continue their vigil. Some have accepted Certificates of Absence out of necessity to manage property or access benefits; others refuse, determined to keep the search open. The psychological toll is immense, compounded by economic hardship in many affected communities.
Sri Lanka’s history of successive commissions of inquiry produced mountains of complaints but few conclusive outcomes or prosecutions. The OMP was meant to break that pattern by creating a permanent, specialised institution. Its database, interviews and limited tracing results represent tangible steps. The recruitment of new expertise, increased funding and government statements of support offer cautious hope that the pace may quicken.
Yet for the thousands still waiting, progress measured in interviews completed or payments disbursed feels painfully slow. The discovery of children’s remains at recent sites only deepens the urgency. As one commissioner noted, the state has a duty to provide answers. Whether the coming years will deliver meaningful closure – through identified remains, credible investigations, and genuine accountability – or merely prolong the waiting remains the central question for Sri Lanka’s families of the disappeared.
