Born in London to Sri Lankan Tamil parents, M.I.A. and her family moved to Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka when she was six months old. The first 11 years of her life were marked by displacement caused by the Sri Lankan Civil War, and she and her family eventually returned to London as refugees. M.I.A. began her career in 2000 as a visual artist, filmmaker, and designer in West London before beginning her recording career in 2002. She was one of the first acts to come to public attention through the Internet,[2] posting her songs and videos on platforms such as MySpace, and rose to prominence in early 2004 for her singles "Sunshowers" and "Galang".
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During the civil war, soldiers would put guns through holes in the windows and shoot at the school, what she notes as "fun."[12] Her classmates were trained to dive under the table or run next door to English-language schools that, according to her, "wouldn't get shot."[12] Arulpragasam lived on a road alongside much of her extended family and played inside temples and churches in the town. Due to safety concerns, Arulpragasam's mother relocated herself and her children to Madras in India, where they lived in a derelict house and received sporadic visits from their father, who was introduced to the children as their "uncle" in order to protect them.[8][13] The family, minus Arular, then resettled in Jaffna temporarily, only to see the war escalate further in northeast Sri Lanka. During this time, nine-year-old Arulpragasam's primary school was destroyed in a government raid.[14][15]