A new alliance against the ruling UPFA has been formed in Sri Lanka.

The opposition parties, led by the UNP, have signed an MOU to form a joint movement in Colombo.

The Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma held talks with the government on Sunday on the rule of law and the separation of powers.

In a statement the Commonwealth said:

The Jaffna home of an Indian consulate official was ransacked on Friday reports the Hindu.

It is reported that the Sri Lankan Army keeps close watch on the consulate officials and that issues of intimidation have arisen.

Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha has said that Sri Lankans living abroad should “contribute towards moderating the negative narratives propagated against Sri Lanka – by clarifying genuine concerns and debunking the falsehoods", reported the Daily Mirror.

The Sri Lankan government is hoping for the EU GSP+ trade concessions that were stripped from the island to return, after an estimated US$1.5 billion loss due to the withdrawal, reported the Sunday Leader.

The Japanese government has granted US $860,500 in aid to the demining organisation - HALO Trust, to work towards demining in the North.

The agreement was signed between the Japanese Ambassador Nobuhito Hobo and the HALO Trust Programme Manager on the island, Bartholomew Digby on Friday.

A Sri Lankan government minister said on Saturday that it hoped India will vote for it in the UN Human Rights Council in March.

In a submission to a conference organised by Berghof and GTF last month, Tamil civil society actors from the North-East advocated for a "referendum wherein the Tamil people could freely express their aspirations for a political solution", after an outline of a proposal for a political solution is drafted from a bottom-up process, echoing work done by the Scottish Constitutional Convention which eventually led to the establishment of the Scottish

Writing in the Times of India, Frances Harrison told of how recent flooding in Mullivaikal has exposed skulls and human remains from the final killing fields, where civilains were slaughtered in 2009, according to reports.

Activists from Naam Thamizhar Iyakkam in India have protested against Sri lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to Tirupathi, picketing an express train leaving from Puducherry.

Tamil Member of Parliament Sritharan has rebuffed claims made by Australian politicians last week that Sri Lanka was safe for Tamils and the reasons for the rise in asylum seekers were “economic and lifestyle”.

Speaking on Melbourne radio 3CR, Sritharan said,

“I am very hurt by Julie Bishop’s false claims. Spreading lies with no conscience about a race that is being wiped out saddened us. We feel we have been deceived,”

Having met with the Australian delegation as they toured the island, Sritharan went on to say,

“I felt Julie Bishop and her colleagues were taking sides with the Sri Lankan Government. They did not care about Tamil grievances. The actions of people like Julie Bishop hurts us.”

“Many people who have been deported back from Sri Lanka are spending time in jails. They asked for names but I could not provide them at the time. When I asked them whether they could guarantee the lives of these young men, Julie Bishop shook her head and said we can’t guarantee anyone’s life. So we could not talk about issues certain individuals faced. It hurts us to know that they haven’t understood the sufferings of our people,”

“When they visited Tamil areas, they did not speak to any of the Tamil civilians. The people were too scared because the army and intelligence people surrounded them.”

“Thousands of Tamil youth are rotting in jails. Sri Lankan Army is everywhere. We have Sri Lankan intelligence roaming around everywhere. Even two days ago on Sri Lanka’s independence day (which Tamils mourn) Tamils were forced to hoist the Lion flag on their houses. When a flag accidentally fell down from a house, they beat up the house owner.”

“Tamils can’t live peacefully here. This why Tamils flee to places like Australia.”

Earlier, Australian opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison denied ongoing human rights abuses on the island stating,

“We didn’t hear of on-going Tamil abuse by the Sinhalese, that’s the point... The most important thing is to beef up the capacity of Sri Lanka to ensure they (the boats) don't get within a few hundred nautical miles of Australia".

Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary has dismissed a warning by a Canadian minister that there might be a revival of “radicalisation by the diaspora”.

The Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney made the comments in Ontario last week, adding that he found the political situation was deteriorating and he had shared his views with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.