Sri Lanka Population Shift

President Junius R. Jayewardene announced that members of Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese population will be resettled in the country’s predominantly Tamil Northern province in the next two years. “We consider Sri Lanka as one land belonging to all citizens, consisting of the 75% Sinhalese and 25% of the other races. As such, we will settle Sri Lankans in this proportion throughout the island on state land,” Jayewardene said. The minority Tamils are demanding an independent state in Sri Lanka’s northern and eastern areas, which they claim as their traditional homeland.