War crimes accused former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa has reportedly been advised “not to leave” the hotel he is currently staying at in Thailand for “security reasons” according to a report in the Bangkok Post.

Tamils gathered in Amparai this week to mark 32 years since at least 55 Tamils were killed by the Sri Lankan military and Muslim home guards, part of a series of killings that left hundreds dead in just weeks.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Thavarasa Kalaiarasan was amongst those gathered in Amparai, as mourners lit a flame of remembrance before a monument that had ben constructed in memory of those killed.

Sri Lanka’s anti-terrorism police interrogated Tamil activist V S Sivakaran for over 4 hours at their headquarters in  Colombo this week, as the security forces continue its campaign of intimidation.

Sivakaran, based in Mannar and head of the Tamil National Right to Life Movement, had been summoned by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) earlier this month.

The head of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Movement (TELO) Selvam Adaikalanathan lashed out at his colleagues within the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) last week, as he called for “unity” despite signs of deepening fissures.

Speaking in Jaffna, Adaikalanathan claimed that the TNA was “strong” but that “its influence is diminishing from the minds of the people due to the activities of two or three black sheep”.

Following a recent spate of bodies being washed up on the Colombo shoreline, Tamil families of the disappeared raised concerns that their loved ones may be amongst the dead as they continue to demand answers for enforced disappearances.

Writing in Foreign Policy, Viruben Nandakumar highlights that despite a change in figureheads, Sri Lanka’s military maintains an inflated role in the running of the state.

“Not only must Sri Lanka’s protesters heed that call and refocus their efforts toward dismantling the militarization of the state, but so too must the international community”, he writes.

Sri Lanka’s Tourism Ministry has announced that it plans to issue longer visas for tourists in an attempt to revive it's tourism industry.

The tourism industry in Sri Lanka has been struggling greatly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing economic crisis.

The Tourism Ministry will soon extend visas for those who apply via Electronic Travel Authorization from 30 days to 180 days.

Single entry visa travelers will be able to stay up to 270 days. Further, multiple entry visas could be extended from 90 days to a year.

Despite protests from Washington and Delhi, Sri Lankan officials have u-turned on their decision to defer the docking of a Chinese military ship, Yuan Wang 5, and have instead welcomed the vessel.

Whilst the ship was initially scheduled to arrive at the Chinese-owned port on 11 August, following pressure from India, Sri Lanka officials had agreed to indefinitely defer the vessel, which Indian officials accused of being a “spy ship”.

Ahead of the 51^st UN Human Rights Council session, several Tamil political leaders have written to UN Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to take decisive action to deliver justice for Tamils and stop the continued atrocities.

On 12 August the Association for Relatives of Enforced Disappearances (ARED) released a statement calling for the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) to acknowledge their demands ahead of the UNHRC session scheduled for September.

The statement which was addressed to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, emphasized that accountability for enforced disappearances would not be secured with the Sri Lankan government.