Sri Lankan island church is cleared of mines, bringing hope at Easter

At sunrise on the 14th of March 2026, family boats began to cross the waters of the Jaffna Lagoon, heading towards Puvaransanthivu Island to gather under the scorching sun in a place that for years had been too dangerous to reach.

There, on the northern Sri Lankan island, a small coastal church was waiting to celebrate its first full Feast Day in two decades, after humanitarian deminers cleared the last of the landmines that had surrounded it since the final years of the country’s civil war. As the world marks the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action on 4 April, the story is also a reminder of the scars left by unexploded ordnance, and of the painstaking work required to make land safe again.

"It was a very emotional scene", says Rev. Fr. Jero Selvanayagam, who celebrated the Feast Day Mass at the Church of Our Lady of Velankanni. "People from the coastal areas came with their families. Usually, the men go fishing alone, but this time families came together".