Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne announced that the government plans to revive the Rakna Arakashaka Lanka, a government-owned security agency that has come under criticism for its fraudulent activities.

Tamil Families of the Disappeared staged a protest in Mannar rejecting payments from the Sri Lankan government-run Office of Missing Persons (OMP), stating that the lives of their children were worth more than the US$660 on offer.

Ahead of Sri Lanka’s election, on 21^st September, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, has resigned from his post as Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister in order to run for the presidency. 

The controversial former justice minister has previously has previously advocated for the rape of lesbians to “cure” them and had lashed out against the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter terrorism, Ben Emmerson.

Tamil Families of the Disappeared staged a protest in Mannar rejecting payments from the Sri Lankan government-run Office of Missing Persons (OMP), stating that the lives of their children were worth more than the US$660 on offer.

The women who were protesting said that the OMP had assured them a sum of Rs. 200,000 as a form of reparation, as they continued to demand justice for their abducted loved ones. Tamil families have been protesting since at least 2017, continuously sat on the roadsides of the North-East, demanding the government reveal what happened to their family members.

Tensions ensued when residents of Illankulam in Kuchchaveli found that a section of their land had been cleared of trees with a chainsaw, that seemed to have been hastily left behind.

The residents who comprise of both Tamils and Muslims had lodged a complaint at the Kuchchaveli police over the unlawful trespassing on their farming lands and clearing of trees in the fields.

The European Union (EU) has extended its ban on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for an additional six months, despite calls for it to be lifted.

Recalling his experience of the July riots, Tamil Lawmaker M.A Sumanthiran speaking at a media briefing in Jaffna this weekend says that calling the North-East as the Tamil Homeland is justified, adding that this is the only place where Tamils can feel safe. 

Several events were held across the North-East this week to mark 41 years since the Welikada massacre, in which 53 Tamil political prisoners were murdered by Sinhala inmates and prison guards.

The massacre took place during the Black July pogrom of 1983.

Mannar

Tamil Families of the Disappeared staged a protest in Mannar rejecting payments from the Sri Lankan government-run Office of Missing Persons (OMP), stating that the lives of their children were worth more than the US$660 on offer.