The Sri Lankan government headed by Anura Kumara Dissanayake has reached a decision to dismantle an “Office for the Affairs of Sri Lankans Abroad” which was specifically instituted by former president Ranil Wickremesinghe to bring in investments from the diaspora and assist with ‘philanthropy’ and ‘reconciliation’ efforts. 

Sri Lanka's new government headed by president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has taken an executive decision to reject the resolution tabled at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which looks set to extend the mandate of a war crimes evidence gathering mechanism for a further year.

Following the election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sri Lanka has secured a $200 million loan from the World Bank as part of the second instalment of the World Bank’s Resilience, Stability, and Economic Turnaround (RESET) Development Policy Operation (DPO).

Excavations at Colombo Port have uncovered eight human skeletons, at a former High Security Zone (HSZ) in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, in yet another mass grave on the island.

Speaking to News First, Professor Raj Somadeva confirmed that two of the skeletons have already been excavated and are currently under police protection.

Sri Lanka's head of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC), Kanishka D. Wijeratne, has agreed to step down after Sri Lanka's Supreme Court accepted a case challenging his appointment.

A Sinhala Buddhist monk was videoed disrupting the work of a Muslim farmer in Pulmoddai last week, amidst further attempts by the Buddhist clergy and Sri Lankan state to occupy land in the North-East.

The British Tamil Forum (BTF) has issued a crucial call for Tamils living in the North-East of Sri Lanka to forge a strategic alliance and face future democratic processes as a unified force. This appeal comes in the wake of Anura Kumara Dissanayake's election as President of Sri Lanka, raising concerns about the implications for Tamil rights and autonomy.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake vowed to expedite investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings this week, as he visited the site of the attacks and was confronted by relatives of the victims.

Dissanayake’s pledge to serve justice for the bombings however stands in stark contrast to his stance on atrocities committed against the Tamil people, where he was vowed not to punish perpetrators of rights abuses and this week met with accused war criminals.

Tamil political parties across the island have begun filing their nomination papers for candidates ahead of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election next month.

Tamil political parties across the island have begun filing their nomination papers for candidates ahead of Sri Lanka’s parliamentary election next month.

Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) Honors Thileepan

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to extend its ‘crucial’ mandate to ensure its continued reporting and evidence collection of Sri Lanka’s human rights abuses for future prosecutions. 

In a statement, the rights group also called on newly elected Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake to “reverse the policies of his predecessors”.