A family of five Eelam Tamils and a boat driver were arrested and released on bail after attempting to flee the island and seek refuge in India over the weekend. 

The family, consisting of children aged 7, 14, and 16, with their parents aged 38 and 37, were arrested at Pallimunai beach in Mannar as they tried to head to India via boat. The family and boat driver were later produced at Mannar Magistrate Court where they were released bail. 

A Sri Lankan Naval officer has been summoned by the Mullaitivu magistrate court over the threatening of leading Tamil journalist, Shanmugam Thavaseelan.

On 7 April 2019, Thaavaseelan was covering a rally held by the Tamil Families of the Disappeared in Mullaitivu. During the protest, an unidentified individual was filmed and threatened the families of the disappeared and members of the press.

In Kandarodai, Jaffna, the Tamil National People’s Front have staged a demonstration against the illegal imposition of a Buddhist statue.

As the Sri Lankan military continued its shelling of the No Fire Zone, the LTTE called on the international community to facilitate the delivery of urgent humanitarian aid.

Extracts from their press release follow:

Faced with imminent deaths by starvation directly attributable to the Sri Lankan regime’s deliberate denial of food and humanitarian assistance to the Tamil people, the Tamil Diaspora has initiated measures to deliver humanitarian aid direct to the Tamil people in the Vanni/Mullaitivu region. The LTTE calls on the international community to support these actions to deliver humanitarian aid.

We draw attention to the nine deaths by starvation in the last few days and the real fear that the death toll could rise exponentially in the coming days. 

The situation of the Tamil people who are being subject to shelling and bombings has been made much worse by the deliberate withholding of food and medicine. The UN and the rest of the International Community has a moral obligation to support this initiative by the Tamil Diaspora.

Protesters in Thaiyiddy, Point Pedro, have been demonstrating continuously since May 3rd, calling for the removal of the Tissa Rajamaha Vihara temple. The demonstrators are demanding that the temple be removed and the 100 parappu land surrounding the temple be returned to the 14 families who own it.

The Tamil National Youth Federation (TNYF) organized a petition opposing the Anti Terrorism Act, set to be debated in the Sri Lankan parliament on April 25th. The petition collected signatures from members of the public in Kilinochchi on April 23rd and will be sent to all 225 members of parliament and the United Nations Human Rights Commission.

On April 21st, Sri Lanka marked the fourth anniversary of the deadly Easter bombings with memorial services held across the Nort-East. The bombings, which occurred on April 21st, 2019, claimed the lives of 268 people and injured more than 500 others. The attacks were carried out by a local extremist group and targeted churches and luxury hotels.

Last week the US State Department decided to sanction yet another Sri Lanka war criminal, former Naval Commander, Wasantha Karannagoda. For decades Karannagoda has enjoyed complete impunity for the crimes he committed against Tamil civilians. Despite his alleged involvement in the abduction and disappearance of eleven individuals, as a close ally of the Rajapaksa clan, Karannagoda appeared almost untouchable.

Armed personnel and police were deployed to provide security as the spire of a newly constructed Buddhist temple was installed and consecrated in Thaiyiddy, Point Pedro on April 27th. The temple, which is the tallest of its kind constructed in Jaffna in the recent past, has raised concerns among locals who view it as part of an ongoing Sinhala colonisation project in the region.