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TNA joins Tamil diaspora in calling for expulsion of Sri Lankan Brigadier

The Tamil National Alliance has joined several Tamil diaspora groups in calling for Sri Lanka’s Defence Attache to Britain to be expelled from the country, after he motioned a death threat to Tamil protestors last week.

The letter, sent to the UK’s Foreign Secretary, calls for Brigadier Priyanka Fernando to be declared a “persona non grata” not only for making a throat slitting gesture last week, but also for his role as a military commander in the Sri Lanka army, where he has been implicated in mass atrocities committed during the military offensive in 2009.

“Given the slaughter of the ethnic Tamil population during the last stages of the war there is also a case for Brigadier Fernando and the Sri Lankan government to answer on the commission of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention,” read the letter signed by several Tamil diaspora groups.

“The British Government is under a clear obligation to the citizens of this country to ensure that those who incite racial hatred are prevented from propagating such views in the United Kingdom,” it added.

“There is clear precedent in the exclusion of individuals from the United Kingdom where their conduct falls below acceptable levels of this country. We urge you to conclude that Brigadier Priyanka Fernando is a person Considered to be engaging in unacceptable behaviour by seeking to provoke others to serious criminal acts and fostering hatred which might lead to inter-community violence , such that he should be determined to be a persona non grata in the UK.”

The letter was signed by:

British Tamil Conservatives (BTC)

British Tamils Forum (BTF)

Global Tamil Forum (GTF)

International Centre for the Prevention and Prosecution of Genocide (ICPPG)

Tamils Coordinating Committee (UK)

Tamils for Labour

Tamil Friends of the Liberal Democrats

Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE)

Tamil Solidarity (TS)

Tamil Youth Organization (TYO)

Tamil National Alliance UK (TNA UK)

Tamil Information Centre (TIC)

World Tamils Historical Society (WTHS)

See the full text of the letter and signatories here.

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