Features

Features

Latest news from and about the homeland

Marking the New Year, Tamil Guardian takes a look back on the major events in the Tamil homeland, in Sri Lanka and across the diaspora over the last year. Throughout the year Sri Lanka continued to grapple with its dire economic crisis whilst maintaining an approach of brutal suppressing. The year has witnessed both the ascendency of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, viewed as a political outsider,…

Labour Party reiterates pledges to Tamils and calls to refer Sri Lanka to ICC

Senior figures within the Labour Party addressed an event to mark Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day at the Houses of Parliament this month, where they reiterated pledges to British Tamils and called for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Eelam Tamil rights activist wins Korean human rights prize

The 2024 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights by the South Korean May 18 Memorial Foundation has been awarded to Tamil women's rights activist Suganthini Mathiyamuthan Thangaras.

Suganthini, who is with the "Amara" organization , has been fighting for the rights and empowerment of war-affected women in Tamil Eelam against the repression and suffering caused by the Sri Lankan government and its security forces. 

Tamils gather at Mullivaikkal to mark 15 years since genocide

Thousands of Tamils have gathered in Mullivaikkal, Mullaitivu, the area where tens of thousands were massacred by the Sri Lankan government in the final days of the armed conflict fifteen years ago.

15 years today - A massacre in Mullivaikkal

The Sri Lankan military overruns the last remaining ‘No Fire Zone’.

TamilNet receives a final phone call before it loses all communication with its correspondents in the field.

US Congress members welcome historic resolution calling for Tamil Eelam independence referendum

Members of the US Congress reiterated their support for a landmark resolution this week, calling for an independence referendum for Eelam Tamils and recognising the genocide committed against them by the Sri Lankan state.

Shortly after introducing the resolution and speeches on the Congress floor, members addressed an event at the Library of Congress. Over 100 Tamils from across the United States and around the world were in attendance to mark the occasion.

US Congress resolution calls for Tamil Eelam independence referendum

A landmark resolution was introduced to the US Congress calling on the United States to work towards an independence referendum for Eelam Tamils and recognise the genocide committed against them by the Sri Lankan state.

The resolution, introduced by Representative Wiley Nickel, is the first of its kind to be brought to the US Congress. It comes as Tamils marked 15 years since the Mullivaikkal genocide this week, with May 18 commemorated as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day worldwide.

'It is a genocidal war' - Father Francis Joseph from inside the No Fire Zone

On May 10, 2009, Catholic Priest Father Francis Joseph wrote to the Pope from inside the No Fire Zone, calling on the Church to break its silence on the massacre of Tamils.

Still searching for Stephen Sunthararaj

On this day 15 years ago, Stephen Sunthararaj, an activist who had exposed the trafficking of Tamil children into international prostitution rings, was abducted and forcibly disappeared in Colombo by armed men in military uniforms.

As part of his work he had told the then United States Ambassador in Colombo about prostitution rings run by government aligned paramilitaries in Jaffna. The paramilitaries were trafficking children into sex rings in India and Malaysia with the help of immigration officials.

Renowned athlete and activist Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam passes away

Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, the Jaffna-born activist and athlete, who competed in the 1952 Olympics and won the first Gold Medal in any sport for Ceylon passed away on Thursday, 18 April 2024, aged 89 years old.

Urgently review cooperation with Sri Lanka' urges Amnesty International in new report

Amnesty International called on the international community to “urgently review cooperation with the Sri Lankan government” including the training and provision of its security forces, as it released a new report detailing how the military and police engaged in violent suppression of protests.