A high-stakes Civil-Military Coordination Meeting was held at the Mullaitivu Divisional Secretariat across July 31 and August 2, 2026, convened under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister of Defence Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd.) to address one of the Northern Province's most protracted post-war grievances — military occupation of civilian lands. The meetings focused on two specific sites: Keppapilavu, where the Sri Lanka Army maintains a significant land footprint, and Vadduvakkal, a coastal zone controlled by the Sri Lanka Navy. Both areas have been the subject of sustained advocacy by displaced Tamil families who have sought to return to their ancestral lands for over a decade since the end of the civil war. On Keppapilavu, officials announced the possibility of immediately releasing 6.5 acres to displaced residents, with a district-level committee to be established to assess and adjudicate claims over the remaining occupied land. In Vadduvakkal, officials stated that private land parcels would only be released after the completion of active demining processes currently underway in the area. While the meetings were welcomed by some as a positive step toward dialogue, Tamil civil society organisations and advocacy groups expressed concern that the announcements contradict a recent government declaration regarding the planned acquisition of an additional 1,661 acres across the North-East for new military infrastructure — a move they argue consolidates militarisation rather than reducing it. The Deputy Minister acknowledged the community's concerns and emphasised that the government's position is to balance legitimate national security imperatives with the internationally recognised rights of internally displaced persons to return and reclaim their land.