Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

British Tamil engineer Arun Rajkumar became an unexpected face of Mercedes’ Austrian Grand Prix celebrations after stepping onto the Formula 1 podium and lifting the race-winning constructors’ trophy for the team. Rajkumar, who was born into an Eelam Tamil family, is a trackside power unit engineer for Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, the Brixworth-based division that designs,…

Sri Lankan soldier attempts late-night break-in of Kilinochchi woman's home

A soldier attempting to break in to a home late at night on Monday has angered residents of a Kilinochchi village.

The house in Dharmapuram, Kilinochchi, was home to a Tamil woman and her two young daughters.

According to a complaint lodged with Dharmapuram police, a soldier tried to force entry at around 1am on Monday.

Neighbours chased the soldier who escaped and hid in the nearby army camp. Locals identified the soldier as one of three stationed at the camp.

No comment on leaked cluster munition evidence says Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Karunaasena Hettiarachchi said he had no currents comments, on recent reports that cluster bombs had been used by the Sri Lankan government whilst shelling No Fire Zones at the end of its armed conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Responding to reports in The Guardian based on leaked photographic evidence of cluster bombs found during de-mining activities in the North, Mr Hettiarachchi said that he did not wish to comment on the report.

Photographic evidence obtained by The Guardian showed demining teams excavating near cluster munitions from Kilinochchi and in Mullaitivu.

Well-known Tamil businessman abducted in Vavuniya

A well-known businessman from Vavuniya, Shanmugan Selvarasa, was kidnapped by unidentified men on Tuesday evening learns Tamil Guardian.

The 55 year old man was returning from the work to his house by motorcycle when he was abducted at the entrance of his house.

His family have lodged complaints at Vavuniya Police station. Shortly after the complaints the police station arrived at his house and took Mr Selvarasa’s motorcycle and cell phone as part of the investigation.

Mr Selvarasa, is a well-known businessman in the area who owns a collection of stores called Shanmugan Stores and several rice mills in the area.

 

Normalising the Abnormalcy – Reflections on Self-Determination, Justice and Peace in Post-War Sri Lanka

"I believe that the issue of confronting and resisting demilitarisation for the Tamil community has to start from home. We need to keep reminding ourselves that we are actually living in a state of abnormalcy. This may sound strange but this is absolutely essential and key to any resistance. It is important to learn not to live with militarisation and to internalise oppression. The easiest path to breaking the inherent collectivity of a community is for it to internalise oppression and accept it as a way of life. We need to educate our children that what they see around them is not normal and that they should not accept it as normal. The most difficult need that has no alternative is a process of political consciencitisation. I truly believe that this is necessary both in the homeland and the diaspora,"

Lecturer in Law, University of Jaffna and Co-Spokesperson of the Tamil Civil Society Forum, Kumaravadivel Guruparan, at the Mamanithar Late Prof C.J. Eliezer AM Memorial Lecture, Monash University, Melbourne, 12 June 2016.

Sri Lanka's missing persons commission requests yet another extension

The Chairman of Sri Lanka’s Presidential Commission into Missing Persons has requested yet another extension to the mandate of the office, just days after the government announced it was to be disbanded.

Maxwell Paranagama reportedly submitted a request to extend the term of the commission by one year, reports news24.lk.

The Sri Lankan government had announced that the current mandate of the Paranagama Commission to end on the 15th of July 2016.

International community must ensure UN resolution is implemented – GTF

The international community must stay “fully engaged” on Sri Lanka to ensure all aspects of a UN resolution are fully implemented said the Global Tamil Forum, in a statement released on Wednesday.

“Sri Lanka has time and time again shown it is both unwilling and unable to investigate allegations of war crimes against its own forces or hold perpetrators of grave abuses to account,” said the statement.

Noting that Sri Lanka had agreed to a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in September last year, the GTF stated that “it appears the government is now trying to back away from this commitment”.

“Given the history of failures of Government Commissions and judicial processes, international participation as specified in the resolution is a must to guarantee the credibility and effectiveness of the Special Court,” it added. “GTF therefore calls upon the Council Members and the High Commissioner of the UNHRC to urge the Sri Lankan government not to renege on this all important commitment to the UN.”

Sri Lanka’s real challenge is meeting IMF criteria – Fitch Director

The Associate Director of Fitch APAC Sovereigns Sagarika Chandra said the challenge for Sri Lanka will be to meet criteria laid out before it by the International Monetary Fund, at a presentation delivered last week.

The Sri Lankan government still must refinance a figure close to 3 billion US dollars for the rest of the year and still remains vulnerable to shifts in investor sentiment said Fitch Ratings.

Australian naval ship arrives on ‘goodwill visit’ to Sri Lanka


A ship from the Australian navy has arrived on a “goodwill visit” to Colombo, reports Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence.

The Australian ship HMAS Perth docked in Colombo on Sunday and was welcomed by troops from Sri Lanka’s navy.

Sri Lankan army organises workshop on IHL in Jaffna

 

 

The Sri Lankan military organised a two day workshop on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) in the Tamil North-East earlier this month.

Wigneswaran meets EU delegation, stresses need for international participation on accountability in Sri Lanka

The Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council CV Wigneswaran stressed the need for international participation in any further accountability and investigation process into Sri Lanka’s mass atrocities during a meeting with the a delegation of the European Union Political Affairs on Monday.