Rights groups have called on the Australian Government to impose sanctions against retired Sri Lankan General Jagath Jayasuriya for his command role in atrocities in Sri Lanka after the Australian Federal Police (AFP) failed to investigate the former Army Commander after he was allowed to enter Australia in 2019. 

Sri Lankan decided once more not to back a UN General Assembly resolution demanding civilian protection and humanitarian access in Ukraine last week, in yet another vote at the global body.

During the emergency special session, the resolution entitled ‘Humanitarian consequences of the aggression against Ukraine’ was passed with 140 votes in favour.

38 countries, including Sri Lanka decided to abstain. Just five countries voted against the resolution – Russia, Syria, North Korea, Eritrea and Belarus.

As Sri Lanka’s president claimed to welcome the global Tamil diaspora to invest in the cash-stricken country, many across the world remain wary - particularly as corruption, human rights abuses and repression of the Tamil people continues on the island.

"This is all just a farce," said Theepan*, a Tamil rights activist based in Switzerland. “After forcing us out of our homeland, torturing, raping and killing us, now the Sri Lankan state needs our help."

Sri Lanka has requested a USD $250 million currency swap with the Bangladesh Bank. 

The announcement came from Bangladesh Foreign Minister  A. K. Abdul Momen. The minister said that the island nation has requested another US$ 250 million currency swap. The Foreign minister is currently in Sri Lanka to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) which got underway in Colombo today.

A currency swap is effectively a loan that Bangladesh will give to Sri Lanka in US dollars, with an agreement that the debt will be repaid with interest in Sri Lankan rupees. 

The Sri Lanka Federation of health workers (SLFHP) has warned of more island-wide action if the ministry of health continues to ignore their demands.

Trade unions in the state health sector have repeatedly engaged in strikes over the last few months in response to several unresolved issues including salaries and promotions. 

Two major Sri Lankan newspapers, The Island and Divaina, have halted their print editions as the cash-strapped island struggles to pay for imports, including paper. 

In the midst of Sri Lanka’s worst financial crisis in living memory, a massive music festival with international acts, pyrotechnics and thousands of people was held in Colombo on Saturday, even as locals endured power cuts and hours-long queues for basic supplies.

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Tamils in the North-East say they are “still living in an open prison,” reports Hannah Ellis-Petersen for The Guardian this week, highlighting imprisonment and torture on the island 13 years after the armed conflict ended.

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo earlier today as the island’s economy witnesses an unprecedented crisis in its independent history. 

Jaishankar is in Colombo for the fifth BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit on a three-day visit. 

As a token of solidarity with Ukraine, British Tamils are demonstrating outside the London Stock Exchange in protest of an event held by Invest Sri Lanka as they highlight the deep ties between Colombo and Moscow as well as Sri Lanka’s own dire human rights record.

“Russia’s blood money partner is in London” read one pamphlet.