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. 

Concluding the 42^nd 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:

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.

During the 42^nd 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.

On Monday, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Ali Sabry met with a delegation led by the director of Saudi Fund Development (SFD) Mohammed Almasoud, during which Sabry expressed his gratitude of Saudi Arabia’s “continuous assistance despite challenges” as well its support for an extension of an International Monetary Fund loan.

On Twitter, Sabry stated:

 Responding to the death of a protester in Colombo, and the injuring of dozens, Amnesty International has issued a statement calling on Sri Lankan police to show restraint in dealing with protesters and urgent for an independent investigation into allegations of human rights violations.

The Jaffna Municipal Council remains without a working budget after the latest attempt to pass one was defeated today.

The latest budget presented by Emmanuel Arnold, himself initially ousted in 2020 following a defeated budget, was defeated by 6 votes with 16 council members voting for the budget, 22 against and 1 abstaining.

This follows the resignation of former mayor Viswalingam Manivannan whose budget was defeated in December 2022.

Overall, ‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam’ is a film about duality: both a wonderful slice of life film and a philosophical work of magical realism. Equally importantly, it is a masterful display of fantastic filmmaking, both simple and brilliant.

Sri Lanks's board of investment approved the construction of two wind power plants by India's Adani Green Energy to be developed in the Mannar and Ponneryn area of the North.

Sri Lanka has again abstained on a UN resolution calling for an immediate end to the conflict in Ukraine and for Russia to withdraw its presence from Ukrainian territory.

The nonbinding resolution comes on the anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and reaffirms support for Ukrainian sovereignty and maintains the need for accountability for war crimes.