Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed Sri Lanka earlier this month, New Delhi’s media was already hailing the visit as a diplomatic triumph. A raft of development projects had been announced and a significant new defence pact between the two governments signed. Images broadcast showed Modi beside a smiling Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, arms raised aloft in symbolic…

British MP demands the UN question Sri Lanka’s representative who oversaw a torture camp

British MP and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils (APPGT), Elliot Colburn, has written to the UN Human Rights Committee to urge the committee to question the attendance of Maj. General Kulatunga during its 6th-period review and noted his role in overseeing the Joseph Camp in Vavuniya.

“From 7 Nov 2016 - 27 July 2017, Kulatunga was the commander at Joseph Camp (SFHQ[1]W), where repeated accounts of torture and sexual violence throughout the armed conflict in Sri Lanka were reported” Colburn states.

Sri Lankan war criminal to represent country at the UN

Sri Lanka’s Chief of National Intelligence, and accused war criminal, Ruwan Kulatunga, is to virtually attend the UN Human Rights Committee’s 6th periodic review, on behalf of the government despite concern over his human rights record.

New date announced for local elections in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's Election Commission have announced April 25, 2023 as a possible date for the local government elections to take place after they were postponed last month. 

The local elections were due to take place on March 9.2023 but were delayed due to the lack of funding as Sri Lanka continues to face an economic crisis. 

Sri Lanka close to securing $2.9 billion IMF loan following China's support

Sri Lanka is close to securing the $2.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after China gave its assurances that it will support the island's debt restructuring. 

According to Reuters, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that Sri Lanka will receive final approval from the global financial agency later this month. 

Assassinated Tamil MP commemorated in the North-East

 

The 15th anniversary of the assassination of Tamil MP Kiddinan Sivanesan was commemorated in Jaffna and Mullaitivu yesterday. 

Tamil grandmother threatened with deportation wins her legal case

After a six-year battle against the UK Home Office, Susita Balasubranamiamm, a 66-year old grandmother, has won he right to remain in Britain with her family.

Tamil refugees launch crowdfunder to fight removal from Diego Garcia to Sri Lanka

Tamil Refugees have sought legal help to bring a judicial review to British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) high court over the commissioner's intention to return around 94 refugees to Sri Lanka

For over a year, around 94 refugees – including families with children – have been held in prison-like conditions in Diego Garcia, the largest island of the BIOT.

The Commissioner has now expressed their intention to return the refugees to Sri Lanka, where Tamils face persecution. 

UN session concludes by stressing issues of the North-East

Concluding the 42nd Universal Period Review of human rights, the Council urged the Sri Lankan government to address issues affecting the North and East which included continued land grabs and missing persons.

The general statement notes:

‘The streets are not an option’ – Sri Lanka’s president warns against anarchy

Addressing Sri Lanka’s Air Force Officer Cadets at the Trincomalee Air Force Base yesterday, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe thanked the armed forces for their intervention during the popular unrest in June and maintained that a change of government would only be possible via a parliamentary election.

UK calls on Sri Lanka to address the issue of land grabs

During the 42nd Universal Period Review of human rights, UK permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Simon Manley CMG urged Sri Lanka to address the issue of land grabs in the North and East, the Tamil homeland, and allow memorialisation activities.