A Sri Lankan daily reported, today, that the Sri Lankan government had prepared a counter-proposal to combat the resolution to be tabled against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March.
 
A high-level delegation led by External Affairs Minister, G.L Peiris and Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga, is expected to travel to the UNHRC with a counter-proposal whilst presenting efforts taken by the government to address accountability and reach reconciliation.

The Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, speaking at a ceremony at the Sri Lankan High Commission, reiterated the Australian government’s support for Sri Lanka’s reconciliation progress since the end of the armed conflict with the LTTE and commended Sri Lanka’s ‘political will and commitment’ to the process.

Drawing upon an Australian parliamentary delegation visit to Sri Lanka, she said,

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province CV Wigneswaran has called for assurances to be made on the “security” and “safety” of the diaspora, stating that the Tamil areas of the island wrecked by war need their participation to recover.

Lamenting the lack of progress in developing the livelihood of the Tamils war torn areas of the island, Wigneswaran called the diaspora a “competitive resource” adding,

“They have the technical know how, along with resources to contribute towards post-war rebuilding. They have the socio-cultural links with their motherland and also genuine interest, which are important ingredients to foster transfer of knowledge and technical know-how.”

He stated "the Government of Sri Lanka does not have the financial resources and professional technical input or knowledge capital to contribute towards an effective post war recovery” and said,

“For the diaspora professionals to come over and participate in the post war recovery processes we need to have pragmatic, meaningful structures and modalities in place to ensure their security, safety, motivation and participation.”

Canadian Tamil businessman Anthonypillai Mahendrarajah was murdered when he returned to Vanni in 2012, after a reported conflict with the military over occupied property.

After yet another in a long series of errors on official sign boards, the Sri Lankan government was forced to make an apology, reported the BBC on Friday.

UNP politician Gamini S Kaviratne switched allegiances to the ruling UPFA coalition this week, becoming the latest opposition member to cross over to the government.

 The National Fishermen Committee, despite government intimidation, held a protest against the appropriation of Tamil land, today, in front of Jaffna Muniyappar temple.



Hundreds of people gathered with placards and slogans, reading, ‘Resettle us back in our homeland’, ‘Do not invade our land’ ‘Where are our disappeared relatives?’ and ‘Let our fishermen live.’


Speaking at the protest, the Northern Province Agriculture Minister, Ayngaranaesan, stressed,

"The government is using development to conceal the wounds of those affected by the war. The government's development in the North-East does not work towards peace or solve the problems faced by the people. The motive behind the current form of development in the Tamil Areas is to steal our resources and people's hard work."

Crowds gathered despite intimidatory and coercive tactics used by government forces to deter protestors. Sri Lankan intelligence personnel were present at the protest taking videos and photographs of the demonstrators. Further attempts to stop the protest were taken with buses transporting demonstrators from Killinochchi and Mullaitivu  to Jaffna stopped by Sri Lankan military forces.

India is most likely to vote for a resolution against Sri Lanka at the upcoming United Nations Human Rights Council, a senior official, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Hindu.

The presidential secretary has said to journalists in Colombo that there cannot be reconciliation in the country if moves for accountability are made.

“My argument (to the international community) was that, yes, you can have an international inquiry,” Lalith Weeratunga said.

A Sri Lankan minister has said that the government would not accept any ‘country-specific’ resolution.

Minister for Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Dilan Perera said to media in Namibia that they are being targeted for “narrow political reasons”.

A protest was held outside the United Nations office in Chennai earlier this week, demanding an international investigation into genocide and a referendum as part of a political solution.

'The past 60 years is political struggle for freeedom'

The protest comes ahead of the United Nations Human Right Council session in March, where a resolution on Sri Lanka is expected to be submitted.