The appeal was made in a written submission during a meeting on Tuesday between the EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka, ambassadors of EU member states and representatives of civil society in Jaffna. They urged the EU delegation to press the Sri Lankan government both to release the land currently held by the security forces and to revoke the acquisition gazette. Participants discussed the unresolved land rights issues affecting communities in the North-East, including delays in land release, land appropriation and land acquisition, along with the social, economic and livelihood consequences for those affected. The appeal comes as displaced Tamil landowners in Valikamam North continue months of sustained protests demanding the return of their ancestral lands, much of which remains under Sri Lankan military occupation. Residents of Valikamam North were forcibly displaced in June 1990, after which the area was designated a High Security Zone, and more than 6,000 families remain displaced.