• UK expresses concern over situation in North and East in latest corporate report

    Oct 15
    Expressing concern over rights violations in the North and East, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), in its update of the Country of Concern Corporate report on Sri Lanka, highlighted clamp downs on freedom of religion and expression, impunity for sexual violence and the intimidation of journalists on the island.

    The latest revision of the 3rd quarter update on Sri Lanka, expressed concern at threats made to journalists in the North and East, interrogation of schools principals in the North by the Sri Lankan Terrorism Investigation Department (TID), unsolved court cases of Sri Lankan navy personnel suspected of gang raping Tamil children and state surveillance of politicians in the North-East.

    "Concerns remain over the situation in the north and east. Two young girls (aged 9 and 11) from Jaffna were allegedly gang raped for 11 days by Sri Lankan Navy personnel; the court case continues. On 25 July, journalists covering court proceedings were allegedly threatened and evicted from the court room by intelligence personnel. In Jaffna, similar threats were allegedly made to journalists on 11 July when they attempted to document the survey of private land to be appropriated by the Sri Lankan Navy. On 3 September, a Catholic priest was questioned by intelligence personnel over poetry he wrote about the war. The spokesman of the Ceylon Teachers’ Union noted that three principals from northern schools were questioned by the Terrorism Investigations Department (TID) over their role in distributing the poetry. Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of the Northern Province alleged that he was spied on by members of the intelligence service," reads the FCO update.
  • Buddhist monks invade Bureau of Foreign Employment

    Monks from the Buddhist group, Ravana Balaya, invaded Sri Lanka’s Bureau of Foreign Employment on Thursday, threatening to use force to sack its director general, reports the Colombo Page.

  • SL expresses concern over ECJ court ruling, warns of pressure from 'pro-LTTE activists'
    The Sri Lankan Government  expressed concern regarding a decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to call for the annulment of restrictions placed against  organisations and individuals allegedly linked to the LTTE.

    Warning the European Council of pressure "pro-LTTE activists" the Sri Lankan government offered to provide further assistance to maintain the terrorist listing of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

    "    Sri Lanka is further mindful that the ECJ decision may have an impact including from a security perspective, on the large majority of Sri Lankans living in EU territory, as well as EU citizens of Sri Lankan origin, who are likely to come under pressure once again by pro LTTE activists," read the Ministry of External Affairs Statement.


  • US trade delegation backs increased business corporation with Sri Lanka

    Photograph US Embassy Colombo

    A US delegation, led by Assistant Trade Representative for Central and South Asia, Michael Delaney, is currently in Sri Lanka for the 11th Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Joint Council Meeting.

  • Tamil Nadu CM seeks Modi intervention for release of fishing boats held by Sri Lanka

    The chief minister of Tamil Nadu O Paneerselvam, in his latest letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the Sri Lankan navy's treatment of Tamil Nadu fishermen, called for his intervention to secure the release of 75 fishing boats, currently held by Sri Lankan authorities.

    In his second letter to Modi, the chief minister said the vengeful action of the Sri Lankan navy and authorities in that country had affected the livelihood of Indian fishermen, according to The Times of India.

    "The Sri Lankan side has deliberately and deviously hardened its stance and adopted this harsh approach of not releasing the boats," he said.

    "Even now, it is reported that disuse and lack of maintenance have led to their deterioration. The high velocity winds accompanying the monsoon will damage these precariously anchored boats beyond redemption," he said, urging Modi to the government to address the issue and ensure the release of the boats.

  • Greenpeace welcomes European ban on Sri Lankan fish

    Greenpeace has welcomed the ban placed on imports of fisheries products from Sri Lanka, after the country failed to co-operate in the fight against illegal fishing, said the organisaiton.

    The environmental NGO said Sri Lanka had “failed to co-operate in the global fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing".

    Welcoming the decision, Saskia Richartz, Greenpeace EU oceans policy director said,

    “The EU is a major market for seafood products from all over the world. It has a duty to protect the environment and consumers and improve labour standards, regardless of whether it is producing its own seafood or buying it from others. Where diplomatic efforts fail, the EU is right to ban the imports of products from countries like Sri Lanka that fail to manage their fisheries properly.”

    Sri Lanka was previously Europe’s second biggest importer in the sector.

  • Foreign citizens to need MoD permission to travel to North
    Foreign nationals wishing to travel to the North will need prior permission from the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, the Sri Lankan military's spokesperson, Ruwan Wanigasuriya told reporters on Wednesday.

    "Foreigners who wish to visit the North either as tourists or in connection with some projects should inform the Ministry of Defence about the nature of the proposed visit and the area they intend visiting and obtain its prior permission to do so," Wanigasuriya was quotes as saying in Sinhala, by the Daily Mirror.

    Written permission can be sought by writing to the Ministry ahead of the visit, he said. The move will include much of the Tamil diaspora, who fled as refugees and now live abroad. 

    "This was being done to prevent foreigners who visit the North under the pretext of being involved in development projects but were engaged in promoting communal disharmony and thus posing a serious threat to national security," Wanigasuriya added, whilst stating that "no foreigner was debarred from visiting the North".

  • Tamil refugees given no chance to claim asylum in Australia, high court hears
    Tamil asylum seekers from the North-East of Sri Lanka who were detained at sea for 4 weeks by Australian authorities, were given no chance to claim asylum, documents presented to an Australian high court on Wednesday reveal.

    According to The Guardian newspaper, the documents state that the Tamil asylum seekers were also not given “any opportunity to be heard on any matter concerning [their] detention or movement” or subject to the basic screening.

    See more on the case here.

    Yesterday, lawyers for the asylum seekers told the high court, that the detention of the Tamils on board the vessels was in breach of international law, and that the suggestion of deporting them to India, where they would be denied employment, education and health rights was also illegal.

  • Very little has changed' for Tamils in Jaffna IDP camp says UK Deputy HC
    2nd lead
    Photograph @UKinSriLanka

    The British Deputy High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Laura Davies, said "very little has changed" for Tamils living in the Sabhapathipillai refugee camp over the past year.

    Visiting Jaffna on Wednesday, the Davies met with the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C. V. Wigneswaran, the NPC member Gajatheepan, government officials, civil society activists as well as displaced persons.

    "Very little has changed for the community in the Sabhapathipillai camp in the year since PM Cameron's visit," she tweeted.

    Residents told Davies of the difficulties they had faced over the past 24 years, and continue to face, appealing to her to help resolve their displacement, the Uthayan reported.

  • Sri Lankan military says No Fire Zone movie is ‘sensational piece of falsehood’

    The Sri Lankan military has dismissed the No Fire Zone documentary, as “rubbish”, in response to the International Emmy Awards nomination the documentary received earlier this week.

    Spokesperson, Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasuriya said the movie, directed by Callum Macrae was 'nothing but a sensational piece of falsehood,' Ceylon Today reported.

    "I am not an artiste to view his piece of 'art' but all what is can say it's a piece of rubbish work and he is nominated for it with a vested interest,

  • Rajapaksa's flawed land permits attempt to bribe displaced families for votes says MA Sumanthiran
    The Sri Lankan president’s handing over of 20,000 flawed land permits to families in the North-East is an act of bribery, warned the Tamil National Alliance MP M Sumanthiran.

    The 20,000 displaced families had been selected to receive their land deeds several years ago and had instead only been given land permits months before presidential elections, noted Sumanthiran.
  • Journalists attending workshop receive threats
    A workshop for journalists organised by Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL) threatened organisers via text messages and posters.
    Photograph: @AzzamAmeen

    Posters were thrown into the Janaki Hotel hosting the TISL event, warning it not to let LTTE in to the building whilst journalists attending the workshop were threatened by texts reading “We will attack u if u attend.”

  • Dead body found in Vavuniya
    The body of a male has been found in a hotel in Vavuniya on Tuesday, reports the Uthayan.

    Ponnuchchami Manoharan, a 33 year old from Chithamparapuram in Vavuniya, had been staying at the hotel on 1st Cross Street. His body was discovered in the toilet of his room by the hotel cleaners.
  • Indian citizen arrested in Kalmunai
    An Indian national has been arrested in Kalmunai by Sri Lankan police over alleged visa violations.

    The 45 year old man has been accused of selling clothes in Mandirippu in Kalmunai, reports the Sri Lankan government's news site, News.lk.

    He was arrested on Sunday and produced before Kalmunai's Magistrate's Court on Monday.

  • Australia's detention of Tamil refugees at sea illegal, lawyers tell high court
    Lawyers representing a Tamil asylum seeker from the North-East of Sri Lanka who was detained at sea for 4 weeks along side 156 others by the Australian authorities, told a court on Tuesday that such a detention was illegal.

    Ron Merkel QC, one of the lawyers acting for the asylum seekers, said the conditions on the boat, where Tamils were unable to move around on the vessel, was a "deprivation of liberty".

    Arguing that the Australian government's attempt to deport the 157 asylum seekers to Sri Lanka, or return them to India, from where they had fled, was also illegal, the lawyers told the high court that authorities did not seek to ascertain if the asylum seekers faced persecution.

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