The UK Home Office has granted asylum to Tamil scientist and torture survivor, Dr Nadarajah Muhunthan, 47, and his family, following mounting criticism against the department’s serious procedural errors which placed the family at risk of deportation to Sri Lanka. 

UK Minister of State for Asia Amanda Milling expressed the UK’s concern over worsening human rights violations in Sri Lanka last week. 

Her response was to the written question posed by Conservative MP Matthew Offord, who asked what assessment her department had made for the implications of her policies of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report on Sri Lanka's "alarming path towards recurrence of grave human rights violations", published earlier this year.

Heavy rain in Mannar has led to devastating flooding which has affected more than 25,000 people across the district of Mannar.

German Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Holger Seubert, has met with the Mayor of Jaffna, V. Manivannan, and Governor of the Northern Province, Jeeva Theagarajah amidst concerns over Sri Lanka's dire human rights record.

Following the announcement that Police Scotland would not renew its controversial training contract with Sri Lanka, members of the Scottish parliament are demanding that all training contracts must be investigated and approved by Holyrood.

Police Scotland's decision follows years of campaigning by human rights activists and Tamil victim communities who decried their training contract with Sri Lanka as providing unwarranted legitimacy to Sri Lanka's abusive police force. 

Across the Eastern Province, small scale Maaveerar Naal commemorations were held as a large Sri Lankan security presence and a flurry of court orders led to many Tamils fearing attending large scale remembrance events.

Former Tamil National Alliance Member of Parliament P. Ariyanethran and Manmunai South West Pradeshiya Sabha Chairman C. Pushpalingam were amongst those paying tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to the Tamil liberation struggle in a small scale private ceremony in Batticaloa

Journalists from the Batticaloa District Tamil Journalists' Union marched through Gandhi Park on Monday, to protest against the attack of fellow Tamil journalist Viswalingham Viswachandran for taking a photo of a Mullivaikkal road sign last week.

Maaveerar Naal commemorations commenced despite tensions in Mullaitivu, following the assault of a journalist and the arrest of another prominent Tamil activist, with a range of remembrance activities take place across the district.

Flowers were scattered at Nandikadal lagoon at sunrise by ormer Northern Provincial Councillor T. Ravikaran amidst Sri Lankan military presence.

The Sri Lankan army has lashed out at the media in a public statement released today, claiming that the assault of a Tamil journalist by military personnel on Saturday was "unverified, exaggerated and factually incorrect", instead blaming "various social media platforms, largely with vested interests".

The military decried coverage of the assault as a “carefully orchestrated and maliciously planned plot” and urged the public not to be “misled by such planted incidents and malicious attempts”.

British MP, Bob Blackman, has joined a number of British MPs and Tamil activists who have called on the UK Foreign Secretary to impose Magnitsky style sanctions on Sri Lankan army commander, Shavendra Silva.

"We need to sanction Silva [...] to make clear that his behaviour was reprehensible, unacceptable, and he needs to be held to account for the decisions he took" stated Blackman.