Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Dinesh Gunawardena, has denied that China played a role in Sri Lanka rejecting the East Container Terminal project which it had agreed upon with India and Japan.

“China did not pressure us in any way. They will not interfere in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs. Not only that, China will not interfere in Indo-Lanka relations. These are basic facts”, Gunawardena stated.

The Swiss Refugee Council (OSAR) has asked Swiss authorities to stop the deportation of refugees back to Sri Lanka, due to the country’s “deteriorating” situation.

“Since the new President Gotabaya Rajapaksa took office in November 2019, the situation in this country formerly affected by civil war has indeed deteriorated” stated OSAR.

In their statement released last week, OSAR called on the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) to carefully analyse the deteriorating situation in Sri Lanka and to adapt its asylum procedures accordingly; as well as to suspend the expulsion of refugees to Sri Lanka, until a migration partnership with conditions founded by “good governance” among other values is established.

The final report of Sri Lanka’s Presidential Commission of Inquiry examining the Easter Sunday bombings, which claimed the lives of over 250 people, has recommended criminal charges against key officials, including former President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who failed to prevent the attacks, despite the early warnings.

Photograph: IBC Tamil 

Tamils gathered in Trincomalee yesterday to remember the victims of the Kumarapuram massacre where Sri Lankan army corporals went on a rampage killing Tamils in the village 25 years ago.

Photograph: IBC Tamil 

 Muthukumar, a Tamil Nadu activist, who self-immolated in protest against the Indian government's failure to stop the massacre of tens of thousands of Tamils by the Sri Lankan army during the final months of the armed conflict, was commemorated in Jaffna on January 29. 

The Indian government has released its latest records documenting more than 90,000  Eelam Tamil refuges who are currently in India, following data collected by the Commissionerate of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non-residents Tamils in Tamil Nadu.

In a recent statement, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Canada to “lead efforts” in pushing for justice and accountability, as they did in 2015, at the upcoming UNHRC session. 

Speaking in parliament today, Justice minister Ali Sabry claimed that ‘there are no political prisoners in Sri Lanka’.

Responding to questions raised by TNA MP Shanankiyan regarding the governments failure to release Tamil political prisoners, Ali Sabry said that "There are no political prisoners in Sri Lanka...however, there are people in prison who charges have not been filed or cases are pending”.

Following intense international and domestic backlash over Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has claimed in parliament that the burial of bodies suspected of COVID infection will be permitted.

The UK revealed today that it intends to present a new resolution "promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka" at the 46^th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) later this month.