A 35 year old Tamil man, seeking asylum to avoid persecution by the Sri Lankan government for his alleged involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was granted refugee status.

The recent tribunal concluded that he faced a risk of persecution.

Global Human Rights Group, Amnesty International, expressed their concerns and disapproval over Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to grant a presidential pardon and release Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayake, who was found guilty of the ‘Mirusuvil massacre’.

“Where accountability is so rare for serious human rights violations in Sri Lanka, the government’s arbitrary decision to release Sergeant Rathnayake sends an extremely worrying message. It means that military perpetrators of horrific crimes, even if convicted through a court of law, will be pardoned and released,” said Amnesty International’s Regional Director for South Asia, Biraj Patnaik.

The Tamil National Alliance(TNA) has denounced Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to release Staff Sergeant Sunil Rathnayaka, who a Sri Lankan court found guilty of the ‘Mirusuvil massacre’.

A Sri Lankan soldier who was sentenced to death over the massacre of eight Tamil civilians, including children, has received a presidential pardon and been released home.

Hundreds of armed Sri Lankan soldiers were seen deployed across the North-East this morning as they carried out disinfection regimes on the streets in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

As states across the world grapple with the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, 47 Roots looked at how the Sri Lankan military has led the regime’s response. 

British Tamils across the United Kingdom have rallied together in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, with community organisations putting in place a raft of initiatives to help those most in need as the country goes into lockdown.

A total of at least 101 patients have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Sri Lanka, the Director General of Health Services announced today. 

The Presidential Media Division also declared in a statement, that Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara have been identified as 'high risk zones' and are all under curfew until further notice.