Germany has granted Sri Lanka €1 million through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), despite concerns of Sri Lanka’s human rights record. 

Tamil residents of Iranaitivu staged a protest today morning in opposition to the Sri Lankan government’s decision to bury the victims of COVID-19 on the island. A letter has also been sent to the government urging them to reconsider their decision.

The Sri Lankan government has designated Iranaitivu, the island reclaimed by Tamils in 2018 after more than 25 years of military occupation, as the burial site of COVID-19 victims.

‘Home to Bilo’, a campaign group dedicated to fighting for the release of the Tamil asylum-seeking Biloela family, has raised funds to erected three billboards urging Australia's Prime Minister to permit the family’s release from the immigration detention on Christmas Island. 

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP M.A. Sumanthiran emphasised the need for all Tamil political parties to work together at a joint discussion in Vavuniya last Friday.

The meeting involved Tamil politicians, Christian bishops and archbishops in the North-East and civil society organisations.

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) submitted a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council on February 24, mirroring a letter from the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF), expressing their disappointment with the UN Zero Draft of the Resolution on Sri Lanka for its failure to meet even "basic" demands held by Tamil Victims. 

The UK government remains concerned about the marginalisation of Tamils and Muslims in Sri Lanka, and about threats received by demonstrators during the Pottuvil to Polikandy march last month, a Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Minister said. The remarks were submitted in response to written questions put forward by Scottish National Party Chief Whip Patrick Grady MP.

Writing in Just Security, former Senior Lecturer in Law at University of Jaffna, Dr Kumaravadivel Guruparan, highlights the failure of the international community to hold Sri Lanka’s war criminals to accounts and calls for “an honest debate on the inherent limits of the human rights system in preventing ongoing violations and dealing with historical atrocities”.

Human Rights Watch has called on Germany to push for a strong and effective resolution on Sri Lanka during this UN Human Rights Council session, noting their concern that a concession resolution would be an “illusion”.

Speaking to the Hindu, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary, Jayanath Colombage pleaded for Indian support during the UN Human Rights Councils 46^th session whilst also rejecting India calls for implementing the 13^th amendment.

The Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) expressed their disappointment with the draft resolution by the Core Group on Sri Lanka for failing to "even meet the basic expectations of the Tamil victims" in pursuing international accountability for war crimes committed by Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lankan soldiers blocked Tamil locals from fishing in Kurunthoor kulam (lagoon) located in Kurunthoormalai, Mullaitivu, as militarisation of the North-East intensifies. 

Vairamuthu Jayachandra, the captain of the ship MV Ahat, which was intercepted by the Indian navy and led to Colonel Kittu and nine other LTTE cadres committing suicide in 1993, passed away in Valvettithurai this week.