A member of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances called for the abolition of Sri Lanka’s presidential commission into disappearances.

Speaking to Ceylon Today Ariel Dulitzky the UN was clear that the commission must be scrapped and have relayed their recommendations to the government of Sri Lanka.

“Our report urged the government to scrap the Presidential Commission and recommended transferring all cases handled by it on Missing Persons to a credible and independent institution, developed in close consultation with families of the disappeared,” said Mr Dulitzy.

However “so far the government has shown no sign of heeding our recommendation,” he stated, adding that “we hope it will be acted upon as soon as possible”.

Hundreds of Tamil Catholics gathered at St. Mary's Cathedral in Jaffna for a Christmas Eve midnight Mass today.

Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka have formed a new organisation to protect 'war heroes', after some military personnel were arrested over abductions and other crimes.

"The current government hates the word, patriotism," president of the organisation, Bengamuwe Nalaka said, adding that the head of state should not have made a recent statement in which he allegedly branded patriots as extremist.

He said the organisation was formed to protect 'war heroes' from 'local and international threats' and to look after their families and to ensure their welfare.

"There are no extremists in Colombo. We are not extremists but patriots. We love this country and we want to save our war heroes and protect the peace we won," the monk said.

Sri Lanka's parliament is set to move a resolution in January which would convert the house into a constitutional assembly paving the way for the process of drafting a new constitution and abolishing the executive presidential system.

Officials said the constitutional assembly would be formed on January 9, the first day of President Maithripala Sirisena's second year in office.

Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North-East have been affected by heavy flooding in the area reports ucanews.com, with many at risk of starvation.

Charity Sister Nicola Emmanuel, a Catholic nun who runs a program for Tamil war widows said the IDPs "live in low lying areas and the wells that they have dug for drinking water have caved in because of the floods".

"They are on the verge of becoming homeless again and risk becoming victims of starvation," she said

Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said over $100 million per year after the European Union’s ban on imports of fish caught in Sri Lanka.

"We are losing over $100 million per year because of this ban,” said Mr Amaraweera. However, he stated the government was expecting the ban to be lifted “before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year (local new year) in 2016".

"During the coming months, the proposal to lift the fishing ban will be presented to the European Parliament," said the minister, adding “we are expecting a favourable response from them”.

A group of 5 Nepalese girls have been rescued from being trafficked into Sri Lanka, reports the Himalayan Times.

The five girls were being taken to Mahendranagar, from where it was reported they were to be smuggled into India and finally into Sri Lanka.

Earlier this year, the US State Department stated that “the Government of Sri Lanka does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking” in its annual ‘Trafficking in Persons Report’, placing Sri Lanka on the’ Tier 2 Watch List’ for a third consecutive year.

Leaked US embassy cables also revealed Tamil paramilitaries ran prostitution rings for Sri Lankan troops in government-controlled parts of the Northeast, and child sex trafficking rings using their networks in India and Malaysia, with the knowledge and support of the Sri Lankan government.

The Sri Lankan navy has also been accused of being directly involved with human trafficking, especially that of Tamil asylum seekers, looking to flee the island.