Sri Lankan police arrested four Tamils this evening for distributing Mullivaikkal Kanji in Sampur, as part of commemorations of the 15th anniversary of the Tamil genocide. 

Sri Lanka’s Inspector General of Police Deshabandu Tennakoon announced that the controversial military-backed anti-narcotic crackdown ‘Operation Yukthiya’ would see “rehabilitation centres” opened across the island - including at least 50 in the North-East.

Preparations are currently underway at Mullivaikkal, the site of the massacres of tens of thousands of Tamils in 2009, as the homeland prepares to commemorate the 15^th anniversary of the Tamil genocide.

Tamil families of the disappeared served Mullivaikkal Kanji in Mannar yesterday to commemorate 15 years since the genocide at Mullivaikkal. 

A Tamil man has died after Sri Lankan police kicked the motorbike he was travelling on, causing him to collide with a concrete pillar and sustain fatal injuries.

The man has been identified as 41-year-old Selvanayakam Pradeepan, a resident of Koppay South. Sri Lankan police claim that Pradeepan failed to stop at a checkpoint in Jaffna. Officers further along the road were reportedly alerted, with one blocking Pradeepan’s path and kicking his motorbike.

The start of Tamil Genocide Remembrance week is being marked today across the North-East, one week before May 18, when the Tamil nation will mark 15 years since the Mullivaikkal genocide. 

As part of the commemorations, Tamils in the North-East are boiling and serving kanji to honour the Tamils that were killed by Sri Lanka's armed forces in the massacre at Mullivaikkal. 

Trigger warning: Distressing images depicting violence and death are featured throughout the article. 

An exhibition documenting the Mullivaikkal genocide and the global protests by the Tamil diaspora in 2009 is being held over the weekend in New Malden, London.  

As Eelam Tamils prepare to mark 15 years since the Mullivaikkal genocide next week, the international community seems to be grappling with a rise in violence and instability across the globe. From Sudan to Myanmar, and particularly in Gaza, conflicts are raging, and civilians are dying in massive numbers. International humanitarian law continues to be routinely, and in many cases blatantly, violated. As policymakers look at ways to tackle this wave of turmoil, they should reflect and act on the failures from Mullivaikkal.

Tamil baker Tharshan Selvarajah, who arrived in France from Sri Lanka in 2006, will become first Eelam Tamil to carry the Olympic torch at this year’s relay. 

The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) served Mullivaikkal Kanji in Batticaloa to commemorate 15 years since the Tamil genocide in which as many as 169,796 Tamils were killed by Sri Lanka's military offensive.