1985 Trincomalee massacres

The 1985 Trincomalee massacres were a series of mass murders of Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan military and Sinhalesehome guards in Trincomalee District, Sri Lanka. In a succession of events that spanned over two months starting in late May 1985, hundreds of Tamil civilians were massacred and thousands were driven out by the Sri Lankan military and Sinhalese mobs in order to colonize the area. Almost every Tamil settlement in the district was destroyed during this well-orchestrated campaign to drive out the local Tamil population. Several Tamil women were also raped. In September 1985, the entire Tamil population of Trincomalee town was displaced to forests and refugee camps in an attack that wiped out the town, including the destruction of 12 Hindu temples and a mosque. Since August 16, over 50,000 Tamils who were forced to flee the town ended up in refugee camps in the Jaffna and Batticaloa districts.