Poththuvil is the Eastern end of Tamileelam which is located in Ampal Éri (Amparai) district.

Agriculture is generally seen as the basic economic route of Poththuvil. In addition, the Village´se internal economy is strengthened through animal husbandry, coastal and inland fisheries, small and medium business, and trade. It is evident that there are plenty of natural resources here. Paddy fields, forests, beaches, mountains and springs are parts of the town’s landscape. Paddy is the main crop in the area. However, vegetables, coconuts and fruits are also grown and contribute to the internal livelihood. At the same time, animal husbandry and fisheries also contribute significantly to the economy, and the tourism sector is seen as one of the most important and well-developed sources.

The area is said to be rich in soil as it is home to beaches, rivers and reservoirs. Coconut cultivation is being carried out on a small scale in the coastal villages of Komari, Manarsenai,  Iruthayapuram, Urani and Ullai. Chilli is also the main crop in vegetable cultivation. The Village is also known for its beaches and the world-famous Arugam Bay for waterboarding. The nearby beaches are also known as Ullai Beach.

The pattern of making refugees flee was again the same in places with large Muslim population nearby. When the Sri Lankan forces moved in during June (1990), people were killed in large numbers, picked up on the basis of lists supplied and most were driven to refugee camps.

One way of making refugees flee was to shoot those who moved on the roads in search of food or to regularly harass them by picking up young men from camps, who then vanished. This was the case in Pottuvil. In Veeramunai. and Sorikalmunali which are close to Samanthurai, people stayed despite such harassment. Immediately following the massacre of Muslims in Eravur Muslim hoodlums and homeguards were set up to attack the Tamils in the Veeramunai Piilayar Kovil refugee camp with knives and shotguns at 9.00 a.m. Witnesses saw the police watching from about 300—500 yards away.

After about an hour, the STF arrived to call a halt. The STF and police were both about 1.25 miles from the refugee camp, well within hearing distance. The STF offered to escort the people to Thirukkovil, which they accepted. Vehicles were sent. Some vehicles took the refugees to Thirukkovil, while others carried a good part of their goods, including colour television sets, video decks, other electrical items and bicycles to Amparai and the South.

Almost the same pattern was repeated in Sorikalmunai a month later. Tamils have thus been driven from many areas in the East. Particularly in the Amparai district, homes of Tamils driven away have been often burnt or demolished, making it difficult for them to return. That their displacement was meant to be permanent can be gathered from discrepancies in the manner in which security forces behaved towards Muslims and Tamils.

In the case of Muslims, the forces have gone out of the way not just to protect their persons and homes, but also to protect their economic life. The forces have helped Muslims to harvest their rice fields, look for their cattle and have co—operated in their normal economic activities. In the case of displaced Tamils, they say that if the problem was genuinely with Muslim homeguards, just two trained men with guns in a refugee camp would have sufficed to keep them at bay. But, instead after they were attacked by these homeguards, the offer from government forces was significantly to ransport them away.

Protection was never considered nor offered. Far from being protected, their economic activity was not only hindered by terror, but even their material good s were stolen or destroyed. Tamils in Veeramunai, its adjoining villages, central Camp and Akkaraipattu are angry that after their help was utilised in harvesting paddy fields of Muslims, they were attacked and driven away before they could harvest their own fields. Their fields either remain un harvested or are being harvested by Muslims. Refugees in Thirukkovil can be seen going on bicycles through by-lanes to their fields more than ten miles away and returning with a sack of paddy. They run these risks to give their families some basic necessities.

On 10.06.1990, as a result of attacks by the military and Muslim groups, people displaced to the Komari refugee camp. People returned to their homes on 30.07.1990, trusting the promises made by the Sri Lankan military and government officials. Returning people found that their homes were broken into and many valuables were stolen. Homes were also destroyed.

As a result the people displaced again to Poththuvil Methodist Mahavidhyalayam. Young men and women among the refugees at the Poththuvil Methodist Mahavidhyalayam were forced to go out for work to support their families. 12 of them were arrested by the military and the Muslim groups and taken to the Poththuvil Police Station.

Those arrested were taken to the open space near the Police Station few at a time and were burnt alive. Except for a few who escaped all the rest of those arrested were burnt alive by 01.08.1990. 125 young people died in this atrocity by the military and the Muslim group.

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