On 28th November 2026, Cyclone Ditwah made land-fall in Sri Lanka. Arriving at the Eastern coast, it already brought 2 days earlier strong winds and bouts of rains followed by large-scale flooding. When it moved further land inward, it caused landslides in the up country that buried entire villages. Finally, it reached the West coast, and densely populated urban centers were swamped with water from river and overflowing drainages. Wherever Ditwah went, it left behind a swath of destruction. It directly killed more than 600 people, with 173 still missing[1]. Hundreds of thousands were displaced.[2] Beyond the immediate visible and countable impacts, it also affected livelihoods of already vulnerable populations in the mid- and long-term.
Disasters affect people unevenly as they compound and feed into pre-existing vulnerabilities. As UNDP has stated with regard to Ditwah, “[t]he highest risks emerge where impact meets structural vulnerability”.[3] This unevenness is socially and politically produced through political decisions, the violation of social, economic and human rights as well as intersecting social hierarchies and conflicts. Hence, disasters are never entirely natural in that they always have a human-made component. They thus function as microscopes that make inequalities strikingly visible, reveal glaring rights violations and shed light on governance.
Human Rights Watch has pointed out that long-standing systemic discrimination has aggravated the impact of Ditwah,[4] while activists, researchers and journalists have revealed the links between past rights violations such as the denial of land rights of the Malaiyaga community and the impact of the disaster[5]. Moreover, observers have called out the securitization of the relief process,[6] and the declaration of an nationwide state of emergency.[7] Experts have moreover pointed to severe governance failures including the violation of the Disaster Management Act No. 13.[8] The lack of preparation was also illustrated by the warnings that came far too late.[9] In addition, though a large number of severely affected people were from Tamil speaking communities, government communication including warnings, information on relief, updates by the government and press conferences were hardly available in Tamil, aggravating the danger and the impact of the cyclone for Tamil speakers.[10] Hence in a similar way as Chemmani is “a test of the Sri Lankan State’s willingness and ability to confront its own past and uphold its legal obligations”[11], Ditwah likewise puts a spotlight on the NPP’s promises towards minorities and probes its commitment to be a government not only for elites and the privileged, but also for vulnerable groups and the marginalized.
In order to triangulate Ditwah’s impacts on vulnerable, war-affected populations, and the violations of their social and economic rights, Adayaalam conducted from January until May 2026 research in the Eastern Province. This report compiles the major findings from the interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) conducted with war-affected women, people with disabilities, ex-combatants, civil society activists and government officers in Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Amparai Districts.
Click here to read the full report, executive summary in English, and executive summary in Tamil.
[1] As of January 2026: Disaster Management Centre (DMC) & Department of National Planning (NPD), Post-Disaster Needs Assessment Cyclone Ditwah, Sri Lanka 2025, March 2026
[2] International Organization for Migration (IOM), Global Data Institute, Displacement Tracking Matrix, Sri Lanka, December 2025
As of 20th March 2026, 149.000 people were still displaced: UN OCHA, Office of the Resident Coordinator Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka: Cyclone Ditwah – Situation Report No. 10 (As of 20 March 2026), 20th March 2026
[3] UNDP, Mapping the Initial Impact of Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka. Section: Multidimensional Vulnerability, 30th January 2026
[4] Meenakshi Ganguly, Sri Lanka Struggles in Aftermath of Devastating Cyclone.Longstanding Discrimination Against Marginalized Communities Worsens Catastrophe, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Dispatches, 11th December 2025
[5] Sri Lanka Brief, Joint Statement: The Demands of Malaiyaha Tamil Families Affected by Cyclone Ditwah Calling for the Attention of President, 30th March 2026
Methmalie Dissanayake, Cyclone Ditwah: The ongoing crisis of Malaiyaha Tamils, The Morning, 25th January 2026; Raisa Wickrematunge, Cyclone Ditwah and Sri Lanka’s disastrous flood mismanagement, Himal Southasian, 4th December 2025
[6] Sri Lanka Brief, Militarisation of Post Ditwah Relief: MOD Issues Guidelines for Accelerated Disaster Relief Operations, 15th December 2025
[7] Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Statement on the Declaration of Emergency and Emergency Regulations Promulgated on the 28.11.2025, 1st December 2025
Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Observations and Recommendations on the Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulations, No. 1 of 2025, 5th December 2025
See for an overview over legal and administrative measures with regard to Ditwah Law & Society Trust (LST), Government Legal and Administrative Measures Following Cyclone Ditwah, March 2026
[8] Pitasanna Shanmugathas, One of the World’s Most Climate-Vulnerable Nations, One of the Least Prepared: Sri Lanka’s Deadly Choice, JURISTnews, 21st December 2025
Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA), Key Short-Term and Long-Term Issues to Consider for Post-Cyclone Ditwah Recovery, 16th December 2025
[9] Murali Krishnan, Sri Lanka cyclone tragedy exposes government failures, Deutsche Welle, 2nd December 2025
Lionel Bopage, Ceylon Ditwah: A Preventable Tragedy, Groundviews, 6th December 2025
[10] Sanjana Hattotuwa, Who gets warned? Language, discrimination, and disaster communication in Sri Lanka, Sanjanah Blog, 29th November 2025; Tharushi Weerasinghe & Sandran Rubatheesan, Lost in translation: How Sri Lanka’s Tamils face repeated disaster warning failures, The New Humanitarian, 18th December 2025
[11] Adayaalam Centre for Police Research, Situation Brief No. 7: The Test: Chemmani and Sri Lanka’s Accountability Crisis, October 2025, p. 2
You must be logged in to post a comment.