• Sri Lanka should immediately release fishing boats – Tamil Nadu

    Aug 29

    Tamil Nadu has reiterated its demand for the immediate release of its fishing boats held by Sri Lanka.

    Speaking during the first India-Sri Lanka Joint Committee (JC) meeting on fisheries in New Delhi, Tamil Nadu’s Fisheries Secreteary S Vijayakumar reiterated the state’s “firm commitment” to the restoration of traditional fishing rights of Tamil fishermen, including fishing unhindered in the Palk Strait.

    The Government of India should not treat the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) with Sri Lanka as settled, since the constitutional validity previous agreements have been challenged on “extremely valid and legal grounds” by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the Supreme Court of India, he said according to The New Indian Express.

    The Indian delegation was led by Dr Raja Sekar Vundru, Joint Fisheries Secretary, and Sri Lanka was led by Nimal Hettiarachchi, Director General of the Department of Fisheries and Agricultural Resources.

  • Basil blames NPC for lack of development
    Sri Lanka's Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa blamed the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) for the lack of development in the area, stating that the government's development plan had slowed down since the NPC took charge, reports The Hindu.

    “They have not done anything yet,” he told reporters, adding that the NPC should use the powers at hand before demanding more devolution.

    His comments are at stark odds with those from within the NPC however, who have increasingly criticised the government's restrictions and withholding of funds.

    Earlier this year the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran slammed President Rajapaksa's failure to uphold pledges made to the NPC.

  • Government evading talks says TNA
    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran said the Sri Lankan government was evading the political question by stating false claims of LTTE links.

    "The Government is now saying it cannot hold talks with the TNA because we are representatives of the LTTE. The Government is trying to evade resolving the Tamil issue citing these false claims," he told a press conference on Thursday.

    "We do not have any hidden agenda. We strongly believe a solution to the issue in a united country and we do not want a separate state,” Sumanthiran said.

  • ICRC says missing in Sri Lanka must not be forgotten
    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urged the international community not to forget missing persons worldwide, including those in Sri Lanka.

    "States have an obligation under international humanitarian law to take all feasible measures to clarify the fate and whereabouts of people who have gone missing and to inform their families accordingly," said the vice-president of the ICRC, Christine Beerli.

    Stating that the ICRC was working on the cases of 52,000 missing persons worldwide, staff member Marianne Pecassou said:

    "This figure is just the tip of the iceberg, since these cases are only the ones brought to the attention of the ICRC by relatives. We know that many more people remain unaccounted for around the world."

  • Sri Lanka to strengthen defence cooperation with Pakistan

  • Sri Lanka looks to make political solution for Tamils irrelevant - TNA tells India
    Sri Lanka is working to make a political solution for Tamils irrelevant by breaking the linguistic and cultural contiguity in the North-East by militarisation and resettlement of Sinhalese families, the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) told Indian press on Wednesday.

    “Their objective is also to change the composition and change the cultural and linguistic identity of Tamil regions. The most urgent need is that this should end. It is their hope that if they continue with this, a political solution for Tamils will be irrelevant, a solution would become redundant and they can have their own way,” said R Sampanthan.

    Sampanthan’s comments come after the TNA delegation travelled to India to hold talks with Prime Minister Modi regarding the plight of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

  • Dead body recovered from lagoon in Eastern Province
    The body of a 66-year old man was recovered from Santhiveli Lagoon in Eravoor this week, reports Eastern Province-based website Batti news.

    Arumugam Sithamparampillai had left his home in Santhiveli on Tuesday to attend to his livestock in a neighbouring village. His body was discovered later that evening floating in the lagoon by his son, who had gone out to fish.
  • Minister Bernier celebrates Tamil business success in Canada


    Canada's Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, Maxime Bernier, celebrated the success and entrepreneurial spirit of the Tamil community in Canada, highlighting their contributions to the Canadian economy.

    As part of the Canadian federal government’s pre-budgetary consultations Minister Bernier met with representatives of the Canadian Tamils' Chamber of Commerce (CTCC) in Toronto on Wednesday.

    “I can see they have a huge impact, like other small business owners, they’re the true Canadians," Minister Bernier told the Tamil Guardian following the meeting.

    “They’re very good entrepreneurs, it’s a plus for us as Canadians to have these entrepreneurs with us,” said the minister, who was     Canada's foreign affairs minister during the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. 

  • UK country guidance on ‘Tamil separatism’ highlights human rights violations by Sri Lanka

    The UK Home Office issued a new asylum country guidance report on ‘Tamil Separatism’ on Thursday, drawing on several reports detailing human rights violations by Sri Lanka against Tamil separatists and people that are perceived to be.

  • We would have to go to war' to retrieve Katchatheevu says Indian attorney general

    The Indian Supreme Court has heard that retrieving the small island of Katchatheevu from Sri Lanka will impossible, reported the Times of India.

    "The island was given to Sri Lanka on the basis of a bilateral agreement in 1974. To retrieve it now, we have to go to war," attorney general Mukul Rohatgi told the court.

    Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and opposition leader M Karunanidhi are presenting petitions to the Supreme Court next week, calling for a retrieval of the uninhabited island in the Palk Strait.

    Tamil Nadu’s assembly some years ago unanimously passed a resolution moved by Jayalalithaa, calling on the government of India to take “immediate steps to retrieve Katchatheevu Island ceded in 1970 to Sri Lanka".

    Katchatheevu has been used by fishermen of both countries for decades, however Tamil Nadu fishermen are routinely arrested and harassed by the Sri Lankan Navy.

  • Locals clash with police over government land surveying in Trinco
    Locals in Trincomalee district clashed with police after government officials attempted to survey land in Trincomalee, Pulmoddai and Arisimalai.

    A 54 year old local man, Abookkar, was admitted to Pulmoddai hospital with injuries.

    Locals rushed to the scene in protest, when s    urveyors arrived Tuesday morning at 8.30am escorted by armed police, Batticaloa News reports.

    The locals, who said they were displaced from their homes and currently staying at relatives' houses in Pulmoddai, demanded that the land surveying be halted, stating that it was being done to divide the villages of Ponmalaikuda, Veerantheevu and Theththavadi.


  • 2 Indians arrested in Sri Lanka over video footage of parliament
    Sri Lankan police arrested two Indian citizens Tuesday for allegedly recording and  possessing photographs and video footage of Parliament and the Prime Minister's residence, reports PTI. 
  • SL missions in Europe discuss how to counter human rights campaigns
    Sri Lanka's missions in Europe met with the External Affairs Minister GL Peiris this week, to review progress and discuss "initiatives to counter campaigns against the country, using human rights and other issues as political tools", Colombo Page reports.

    The meeting included Sri Lanka's ambassadors in France, Germany and Italy, as well as the country's Permanent Representative at the United Nations in Geneva, Ravinatha Aryasinha.

    Making suggestions regarding a "coordinated strategy", the envoys reportedly gave "perspectives of special relevance to the countries in which they are serving".

  • Police station opened to 'establish law and order' in North-East
    The Sri Lankan government announced the opening of a new police station in Nilaveli, Trincomalee this week, reports ColomboPage.

    The 436 Police station was built on two acres of land in the Eastern Province at a cost of  Rs. 12.1 million.

    Sri Lanka Police Media Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana commented,
    “This Police Station was built to start a civil control through establishing law and order that was disrupted in the North and East area, while specially providing facilities needed by the people of the North and East."
  • India funds development projects worth Rs. 365 million for Jaffna
    The Indian government has announced the funding of two major development projects in Jaffna, worth a total of Rs. 365 million.

    A grant of Rs. 145 million has been allocated towards renovation of the Duraiappah Stadium, with another Rs. 220 million granted to set up the Atchchuvely Industrial Estate.

    Indian High Commissioner Y. K. Sinha said the Industrial Estate “is expected to attract potential investors, from within and outside Sri Lanka” with access to the area increased once the Northern Railway Project, also financed by India, is completed. The rail project is scheduled to be completed in September 2015.

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