E/C.12/LKA/CO/5 46. The Committee recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to eradicate poverty, especially in or near urban areas, the north and east, the estate sector and Monaragala, including through ensuring that young people have access to employment opportunities in the industry and in service sectors, or to continuing education responding to the needs of the labour market. Forced evictions 47. The Committee is concerned that since it was launched in 2010, the Urban Regeneration Programme by the Urban Development Authority has led to forced evictions and relocation of around 5,500 families in Colombo, reportedly involving the military, without due process or compensation (art. 11). 48. The Committee recommends that the State party adopt a legislative framework providing adequate legal protections against forced evictions and relocations for those without secure tenure to land and housing, and provide compensation and redress to those forcibly relocated, taking into account the Committee’s general comment No. 7 (1997) on forced evictions and the United Nations basic principles and guidelines on development-based evictions and displacement. Land issues 49. The Committee is concerned that although significant areas of land have been released since 2015, the military still controls substantial areas of private and public land in the north and east of the country and continues to engage in commercial activities, including farming, tourism, coffee shops and hotels. The Committee is concerned about the impact of such activities on the fishing and agriculture communities, which in some areas face bans on coastal and freshwater fishing. It is also concerned that the military utilizes freshwater wells of private land under their control, leading to water shortages (art. 11). 50. The Committee recommends that the State party take measures to map private and public land under the control of the military, ensure its restitution, in line with the recommendation of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms and end military involvement in commercial and other civilian activities. The Committee also recommends that the State party establish an independent national land commission and develop a national land policy, in line with the recommendations of the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission. Internally displaced persons 51. The Committee is concerned that, despite significant progress made, nearly 42,000 internally displaced persons are still to be resettled, as a result of a failure to release land by the Government, land disputes relating to State occupation, secondary occupation by civilians, loss or damage to land documents, competing claims, landlessness and unregularized land claims. It is also concerned that internally displaced persons in camps face many challenges, including being considered lower caste, harassment in schools, unemployment and insufficient water supply and sanitation facilities. It is further concerned that lands provided to resettled internally displaced persons are in many cases not suitable for agriculture and do not provide access to the coastline, increasing the risk of poverty and malnutrition (arts. 11-13). 52. The Committee recommends that the State party effectively implement the National Policy on Durable Solutions for Conflict-Affected Displacement (adopted in 2016) and urgently address the factors that impede a resettlement of internally displaced persons. It recommends that the State party provide compensation for destroyed housing and assistance to returnees to enable them to repair or build houses and to ensure that basic infrastructural needs are met, including adequate roads, schools and hospitals where people have been or are to be resettled. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that internally displaced person living in camps have access to sufficient and safe water and sanitation facilities, electricity, schools and health care. The Committee also recommends that the State party conduct a comprehensive survey of internally displaced persons, including identifying 7