Sri Lankan state minister and paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, also known as Pillayan, reportedly fled the country following the resignation of former Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Reports indicate that he had fled to Malaysia and plans to travel to a European country from there.

Pillayan is the head of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a government-aligned paramilitary group, and is accused of assassinating former Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Joseph Pararajasingham amongst other abuses.

Following the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe to the post of Sri Lanka’s President, international diplomats have responded by issuing statements welcoming his support and hoping that this signals a move toward political stability.

Wickremesinghe’s appointment has been met with fierce opposition from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), refusing to accept any positions under his leadership as Prime Minister.

Jean-Christophe Lagarde, the leader of France’s Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), joined French Tamils in commemorating 13 years since the massacres at Mullivaikkal this week.

Lagarde tweeted that he was “very touched to commemorate… the terrible genocide,” this week.

“We do not forget the massacres of May 2009 which left thousands of families in mourning and forced into exile,” he added, alongside photographs attending a commemoration event in France.

Writing in response to the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe as Sri Lanka's Prime Minister, Mario Arulthas, an advisor to People for Equality and Relief in Sri Lanka (PEARL), stresses that "without a fundamental restructuring of the state, Sri Lanka will simply repeat the past mistakes that got it there".

Newly appointed Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed he would repeal orders for Sri Lanka's security forces to shoot on sight amidst international condemnation.

Responding to the issuing of these orders, Amnesty International stated:

Mullivaikkal Kanji was served in places across the North-East today to commemorate the second day of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Week, commemorating the tens of thousands killed by the Sri Lankan state 13 years ago.

Kanji - a porridge of rice and water - was the only food available to Tamils trapped in the Sri Lankan government declared 'No Fire Zones' as food, medicines and other necessities were heavily restricted from entering the Vanni during the final phase of the armed conflict.

Following an explosion of violence in Sri Lanka's capital city, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) have maintained that discussions over debt restructuring will continue unimpeded.

“On our virtual mission during 9-23 May, discussions at the technical level have just started and will continue as planned, so as to be fully prepared for policy discussions once a new government has been formed", a statement from the IMF reads.

Sri Lanka’s violence will not end until “the country ends its war on Tamils and Muslims and drastically scales back its military budget,” writes Tamil Guardian staff writer Ben Andak in Jacobin Magazine this week, as the economic and political crisis on the island continues.

“Many are increasingly alarmed by the authoritarian nature of their government and blame President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, taking to the streets and demanding that “Gota Go Home”,” writes Andak.

“But the crisis in Sri Lanka cannot be placed solely on one family. Nor will the IMF rescue the island from the root cause of the crisis: the country’s militarized and ethnocratic state.”

In a press release Amnesty International has condemned the recent implementation of emergency regulations and shooting orders in Sri Lanka.

The international human rights organization has called on Sri Lankan authorities to “take immediate steps to respect, protect and fulfill the human rights of peaceful protesters.”

Protests in #SriLanka have resulted in 9 people killed and 200 injured since Monday following worsening economic and civil rights problems in the country.

Here's my call for an urgent debate in @UKParliament pic.twitter.com/yr1kuwt1we