Thuyilum Illam: Destroyed Memorial Sites

"Thuyilum Illam" — resting places — were cemeteries across the Tamil North-East where families visited to honor relatives who died during the armed conflict. After the war ended in 2009, the Sri Lankan military systematically bulldozed these cemeteries, and public commemoration at the remaining sites was restricted or banned outright.

IDCTE has documented this destruction using satellite imagery, comparing each site before and after the occupation. The comparisons below show organized burial grounds — visible as neat rows of headstones — reduced to cleared, empty land. Drag the slider on each image to compare.

We view this destruction as part of a broader pattern: the erasure of Tamil memory and identity alongside continued restrictions on the right to mourn and commemorate. Read more about this pattern in The Tamil Genocide and International Advocacy & Accountability.