Sri Lanka's President Ranil Wickremesinghe has taken control of the Ministry of Justice, Prison Affairs, and Constitutional Reforms, following the resignation of Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who stepped down from his ministerial role to run in the upcoming Presidential election.

Despite the military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at the end of the armed conflict, Tamils arriving in Sri Lanka from abroad continue to face harassment by authorities who claim there are links to the LTTE.

A group of Sri Lankan public officials faced strong resistance from Tamil residents as they attempted to illegally occupy hundreds of acres of coastal land for mineral sand mining, threatening the livelihoods of fishermen in the war-affected North-East.

The Sri Lankan government is continuing to persecute Tamil families of the disappeared, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a release this morning.

Tamil Fest, an annual street festival organised by the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) to celebrate Tamil culture and identity, was marred by controversy, after protests demanded the organisation apologise for meeting with accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka last year.

^{(Image courtesy: Rajeevkanth Facebook Post)}

Sri Lankan police in Trincomalee have been granted a court order to halt demonstrations by Tamil families of the disappeared on International Day of the Disappeared today, in another blow to Tamil victim-survivors.

Tamil asylum seeker Mano Yogalingam has died from self-immolation in Dandenong, Australia, having waited 12 years for a permanent visa.

Tamil asylum seeker Mano Yogalingam has died from self-immolation in Dandenong, Australia, having waited 12 years for a permanent visa.

Officers from Sri Lanka’s counter terrorism department have been interrogating staff at a Tamil school in Kilinochchi, after students created an art display created during an inter-house sports event six months ago.

The Tamil National People's Front (TNPF) has submitted a written complaint to Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Council, detailing how Sri Lankan police obstructed their presidential election boycott campaign in Amparai last week.

Prominent Tamil Nadu actor ‘Thalapathy' Vijay unveiled Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam's (TVK) party flag last week in Chennai, along with a pledge honouring fighters who fought for the rights of Tamil people.  

^{Thalapathy Vijay unveiling TVK Party Flag.}