(Photos: Tamil Guardian)

The massacre of thousands of Tamils at the hand of Sinhala mobs, known as Black July, was marked on its 32nd anniversary with a vigil outside Downing Street in London.

British Tamils gathered outside the prime minister's residence and lit candles in remembrance of those who died in 1983.

Sri Lanka’s prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe handed a copy of the United National Party (UNP) manifesto to the head monk of the Buddhist Maha Sangha at the UNP official manifesto launch on Thursday.

Whilst outlining UNP plans to create a society that would have a "competitive economy and safeguard the equal rights of the people," the prime minister assured the audience that Buddhism "would be given its foremost place."

The deputy foreign minister of Sri Lanka has ruled out a federal setup for Sri Lanka.

Ajith Perera, who is also the chief organiser for the Kalutara district for the UNP, said at a press conference that the UNP-led United National Front for Good Governance would only devolve power within a unitary state.

The European Union’s ban on imports of fish caught in Sri Lanka has caused losses in revenue totalling $75m since January, according to foreign ministry spokesperson Mahishini Colonne.

The EU, which is the largest export market for the island’s fisheries industry, brought in the ban for the government’s failure to crack down on illegal fishing.

Ms Colonne said on Wednesday, the government has been taking steps to address the issues, including are fitting vessel monitoring systems on high sea fishing vessels, maintaining and updating a register of high sea fishing licenses, banning vessels using harmful fishing methods and prosecuting those found to be fishing illegally.

Bodu Bala Sena CEO Dilanthe Withanage claimed Sri Lankan Muslims linked to the Islamic State were behind the riots in Aluthgam, in which Muslims were attacked by Sinhala mobs.

Speaking to media on the reported death of a Sri Lankan member of the Islamic State group, Mr Withanage said the BBS had warned about the dangers of Sri Lankans being recruited to join the group in Iraq and Syria six months ago, but it was ridiculed as racist at the time.

“Several Sri Lankan Muslim communities have requested the BBS to help free them from this extremism and they said that they would support silently,” he said.

“We can clearly say the Sri Lankans, who worked for ISIS, have involvement in the Aluthgama incident. Sri Lankan authorities are afraid of investigating in to the ISIS related incident in the country,” Mr. Withanage said.

BBS General Secretary Galagodaathe Gnanasara said the government should investigate and publish how “Muslim extremists” are being funded in Sri Lanka.

The presidential manifesto clearly says an international investigation will not be allowed, said Sri Lanka’s foreign minister responding to questions on the upcoming UN report into mass atrocities.

Responding to questions on BBC Sinhala, Mangala Samaraweera said,

“The presidential election manifesto clearly says an international investigation will not be allowed. A local mechanism will be considered to investigate allegations of human rights violations. Action will be taken pursuant to the release of the Geneva report in September.”

Mr Samraweera also said that the domestic investigation would take into account the UN investigation into Sri Lanka's atrocities.

UNP rules out federalism (27 Jul 2015)

Sri Lanka’s foreign minister announces delay in domestic investigation  (24 Jun 2015)

Sri Lanka will lead any investigation says foreign minister (19 Jun 2015)

Sri Lanka's foreign minister reiterates rejection of OISL, points to domestic investigation in July (24 Jul 2015)

Switzerland received 11,873 asylum seekers between January and June this year, with Sri Lanka the second most common country of origin, after Eritrea, ahead of conflict hotbeds such as Syria and Somalia.

A total of 840 refugees from Sri Lanka, most of whom are thought to be Tamil, sought asylum in Switzerland, compared to 781 Syrians and 3,800 Eritreans.

The number represents an increase of 76.5% compared to the equivalent period in 2014, when 364 refugees from Sri Lanka claimed asylum in the country.