The excavation of the Chemmani mass grave site in Jaffna, where the remains of hundreds of forcibly disappeared Tamils are believed to be buried, has been stalled for seven months amid delays by the Sri Lankan government.

This week marks 17 years since thousands of British Tamils began a continuous 72-day occupation of Parliament Square in London on April 6 2009, as Sri Lanka intensified its military offensive that led to the Mullivaikkal genocide.