Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Tamil residents, landowners and activists in Maruthankerni have halted a land survey linked to an attempted acquisition reportedly for Sri Lankan military purposes in Vadamaradchi East. The move, which took place in the Maruthankerni area of the Jaffna district, drew strong opposition from the landowner and local residents, who warned that handing land to the Sri Lankan military could lead to…

Army expands intelligence units

The ever-growing Sri Lankan Army has announced that it will more than triple the number of intelligence battalions it has in order to counter future “internal and external threats”.

Defence Secretary Gothbaya Rajapakse said that,

Cameron warns Sri Lanka of CHOGM boycotts

British Prime Minister David Cameron has spoken to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse and warned him that he must show progress on human rights in order to have countries attending the 2013 CHOGM and once again called for an independent investigation into war crimes.

Speaking at the 2011 CHOGM in Perth, Cameron aligned himself with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper who has threatened to boycott the next meeting in Perth, unless war human rights law violations were addressed.

Attacks by SL navy on Indian fisherman must stop: LK Advani

The leader of the BJP, India’s main opposition party, has demanded an immediate stop to the attacks perpetrated by the Sri Lankan Navy on Tamil Nadu’s fishermen.

"Sri Lanka must be told firmly that the repeated attacks on Indian fishermen must end," he told reporters in Madurai.

"It should not be regarded as a local matter as it does not relate to Tamil Nadu only. It must be regarded as a part of the national strategy and the government must evolve a plan on how to deal with it," he said.

Toronto Star on Sri Lanka and Commonwealth …

“[Canadian] Prime Minister Stephen Harper deserves credit for making Sri Lanka an issue at the Commonwealth summit in Australia this week.

“There are other human rights offenders in the [Commonwealth], to be sure. But Sri Lanka is in a class of its own.”

See the full text of the editorial here.

See no evil - Australia's way on war crimes

“Australia’s Attorney-General, Robert McClelland promptly quashed the case [against President Rajapaksa], claiming it breached domestic law and Australia's treaty pledges of diplomatic and sovereign immunity for visiting leaders.

A smokescreen, of course, since domestic law does allow private war crimes prosecutions - if they are taken over by federal prosecutors and approved by the attorney-general.

Sri Lanka confident amid Indian backing

A senior Sri Lankan diplomat says that "plans have been" made to thwart any attempts to bring out issues related to Colombo's human rights at the Commonwealth summit in Austrlia.

He said several Commonwealth countries have shown solidarity towards Sri Lanka and have dismissed those accusing Colombo of human rights violations.

The unnamed diplomat added:

‘Resettlement’ in Sri Lanka – what the figures show and conceal

Rather than resettling displaced Tamils, since the war ended, the Sri Lankan armed forces have occupied a further 7,000 sq km of land owned by Tamil people.

So what do the government’s claims of resettlement mean?