(Photos provided by HomeToBiloa)

Former community members and friends of the Tamil asylum-seeking family gathered for a dawn vigil at Lions Park in the early hours of 5 March 2021 to mark the three-year anniversary since the family was detained by immigration officers from their home in Biloela. A number of events were held across Australia, including on Christmas Island, on Friday. 

Protests were held in Switzerland, demanding international justice for human rights abuses against Tamils by the Sri Lankan government and calling on the international community to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

TNA leader, R Sampanthan emphasised the need for international intervention in achieving a political solution to the Tamil people at a conference with the US delegation led by the Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Asia and the Pacific, Ami Bera, in Colombo last week. 

Writing in The Wire this week, Tamil Guardian features editor Thusiyan Nandakumar said the Indian government must “do more than pay lip service to Tamil concerns”.

Describing escalating tensions between India and Sri Lanka, Nandakumar said it “follows a long history of Sri Lankan ‘Indo-phobia’, driven by a protectionist, Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism that has been central to the island’s politics since independence”.

In India, as elections loom in Tamil Nadu, “outrage over Sri Lanka’s actions has been growing,” he added.  

“These are sentiments that Modi will be acutely aware of, having raised them himself during a trip to Tamil Nadu’s capital earlier this month. In an address where he lauded the southern state, he took care to mention the plight of Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan security forces and reaffirmed his commitment to “the welfare and aspirations of our Tamil brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka”. “We are always committed to ensuring that they live with equality, justice, peace and dignity,” he said.”

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council Session on 3 March, UK International Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, raised deep concerns over the violations of religious freedom internationally and highlighted Sri Lanka’s discriminatory policies.

In her statement, she notes the government’s mandatory cremation policy, which violates the religious rights of Muslim and raises concerns over the treatment of Christian minorities.

Tamil families of the disappeared marked International Women's Day with a protest in Vavuniya yesterday as they called on the Sri Lankan government to disclose the whereabouts of their forcibly disappeared loved ones. 

“On this occasion, the entire women community must protest alongside us in order to help us secure justice,” the demonstrators said.

The Canadian Tamil Women’s Organization hosted a socially distanced Car rally in Toronto, “demanding Canadian and international action on Sri Lanka and justice for Tamil Genocide.” 

The protest took place on International Women’s Day (IWD), and protestors gathered in Markham and Brampton with a final destination of Queens Park in Toronto, the Ontario Legislative Building site that houses the Legislative assembly of Ontario. 

A protest was held in Jaffna today marking International Women's Day, demanding international justice for human rights abuses against women by the Sri Lankan government.

Writing to Minister of State for Asia, Nigel Adams, UK Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific, Stephen Kinnock, has called on the government to ‘comprehensively rewrite’ the current proposed UN resolution and questioned why the government’s review of its Global Human Rights sanctions regime does not include “a single senior Sri Lankan government minister, official or military officer”.

In his statement Kinnock criticised the government's refusal to consider referring Sri Lanka to the ICC, maintain that Britain’s position, “should not be determined simply by the veto-wielding intentions of two of its permanent members”.

Tamil families of the disappeared braved military intimidation and marched across Mullaitivu this morning, as they marked International Women’s Day with another rally demanding justice for their disappeared loved ones.

The families dressed in black for their rally as a sign of protest. They have been demonstrating for more than 4 years on the roadsides of the North-East, demanding information on the whereabouts of their loved ones and justice for their disappearances.