• International community has given ‘far too little help’ for reform – Ranil

    Apr 08

    Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the country needed the international community support it more, and claimed “far too little” help had been given to assist the government.

    In an op-ed for the Japan Times, the prime minister said the assistance was needed as people in Sri Lanka may become discouraged and be “tempted” by autocratic forces, waiting to return to power at the next elections.

    “We cannot fully turn the page on authoritarian rule, restore the full range of democratic freedoms and rebuild our economy in an inclusive way on our own. [...] We simply lack the resources to undertake the great task of reconstruction without assistance,” he said.

  • No place for racism in nominating Sri Lankan opposition leader says TNA spokesperson
    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson and MP Suresh Premachandran, criticised Sinhala parties in the South for allowing racism to be the basis on which nominations for Sri Lanka's opposition leader position were put forward.

    “The chauvinist parties in South are not keen on giving the opposition leader post to Tamils," Mr Premachandran was quoted by the Uthayan newspaper as saying on Thursday.

    "The nomination of opposition leader should not take place on basis of racism", he added, urging the speaker "not allow for political benefits by extremists in South in nominating opposition leader".

    “If seen in a logical way, the most suitable person to take over the opposition leader post in Sri Lankan parliament is Tamil National Alliance leader R Sampanthan," Mr Premachandran said. 

  • Bhutan PM arrives in Sri Lanka for official visit

    The prime minister of Bhutan, Tshering Tobgay, arrived in Sri Lanka on Thursday to embark on an official, four day visit of the country.

    Mr Tobgay, who was greeted by the foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera, will also meet with the president, Maithripala Sirisena, and the prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe.

  • UN reiterates support for Sri Lanka's 100 day reform plan
    The UN's Assistant Secretary General, Haoliang Xu, who is currently concluding a visit of the island, reiterated the organisation's pledge to support the new Sri Lankan government's 100 day reform plan, reports LBO.

    Mr Xu, who is also the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director - Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, made these remarks in a meeting with Sri Lanka's minister of foreign affairs, Mangala Samaraweera on Thursday.

    His comments come as Sri Lanka's prime minister, Ranil Wickremasinghe, criticised the international community this week, for allegedly providing "far too little" assistance to the government to institute its reform agenda.

  • We want peace and prosperity in South Asia' says Indian PM
    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government has a “vision of regional cooperation and connectivity” in South Asia, in an interview with the Hindustan Times.

    Stating that India wants “peace and prosperity in South Asia”, Mr Modi continued to say those principles remain “a guiding factor in our foreign policy”.

    “The dividends are visible in the quantum leap in relations with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,” added Mr Modi.
  • Sri Lanka to launch domestic probe in June and hold parliamentary elections
    Sri Lanka will announce a domestic investigation into the end of the ethnic conflict by the end of June, said president Maithripala Sirisena in an interview with Time.

    “We have informed the UN that we’ll have a strong internal mechanism to look into this and we’ve asked for advice and consultancy though the UN high Commissioner for Human Rights,” he said.
  • Former LTTE cadres are being intimidated – Bishop of Jaffna

    The Bishop of Jaffna Thomas Savundranayagam told the Australian High Commissioner Robyn Mudie that former members of the LTTE who had gone through the military’s ‘rehabilitation’ are still being intimidated frequently, Ceylon Today reports.

  • Tamil refugees arrested in Tamil Nadu

    Two Tamil refugees were arrested by India’s coast guard on Tuesday, according to police.

    The youths, form a refugee camp in Trichy, were being monitored by the ‘Q Branch’, a special unit within the Tamil Nadu police force, Outlook reported.

  • Kilinochichi residents demand resettlement
    Residents in Kilinochchi demanded to be resettled in their original lands, reports Uthayan.

    Families who had been displaced since 1995, speaking to the Uthayan, said that at least 3000 families in the regions of Vempodukeni, Mukamalai and Ithavil were living as refugees.
  • Tamil journalists threatened by police in Jaffna
    Three Tamil journalists were harassed and threatened by police officers in Jaffna on Tuesday, after they reported from the protest against oil pollution outside Nallur temple.

    The Thinakkural’s T Vinojith, T Piratheeban from a Colombo-based radio station and freelance journalist Mayurapriyan were leaving the protest after conducting interviews, when they were stopped behind the temple, by two men wearing jerseys with the Sri Lankan police’s emblem.

    The officers, who were intoxicated, intercepted the reporters on a red motorbike, registration number NP BAL 2172, and asked for their identity documents. The Tamils questioned the police men under which capacity they were stopped, as they were not in full police uniform, at which point one of the officers pulled a knife and started chasing the journalists.
  • Sri Lankan army renovates chapel in Jaffna college


    The Sri Lankan army's renovated a chapel and built a basketball court in Jaffna, reported the army's civil military coordination website.

  • Jaffna journalist detained after investigating assault by Sri Lankan police
    A freelance Tamil journalist from Jaffna has been detained by a court in Point Pedro on Wednesday, reports the local newspaper, Uthayan.

    N Logathayalan was called in for an investigation regarding his coverage for the paper of the assault of a school girl by Sri Lankan police officers at Nelliyadi station.

  • UN Assistant Sec Gen visits Mullaitivu
    The UN Assistant Secretary General, Haoliang Xu, who is currently on a six day tour of the island, visited Mullaitivu on Wednesday.

    Mr Xu, who is also the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director - Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, reviewed the UNDP's projects in the region.

    "I am here to learn more about emerging development needs and expectations, in this new environment, with the new government in office," Mr Xu was quoted by Xinhua as having said on his arrival.

  • Families in Amparai protest calling for international investigation into disappearances
    Photograph:Tamil Guardian

    Families of the disappeared in Amparai carried out a silent protests against the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons outside the Kalmunai divisional secretariat for two days on Monday and Tuesday.
  • Shock in Tamil Nadu over police mass killing

    The killing of 20 men by Indian police in Andhra Pradesh has resulted in widespread condemnation by politicians and human rights groups, with several protests in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where the majority of victims were from.

    The men were shot by state police, who suspected them of smuggling sandalwood near the border with Tamil Nadu. The police defended their actions, saying they fought back against attacks with axes sticks and stones.

    Indian media reported some of the men were shot in the face at close range.

    "At one of the two sites where bodies were found, seven of the nine dead had been shot in the face or the back of the head," the Indian Express reported, saying many of the victims had unexplained burn injuries.

    The Andhra Pradesh government denied the men were shot at close range and dismissed allegations the men were executed after capture.

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