A US State Department report noted a source inside the No Fire Zone as stating the Sri Lankan military was “engaged in daily shelling and bombing of the NFZ, killing an estimated minimum of 100 people per day”.
The Tamil Eelam Football Association (TEFA) has unveiled its highly anticipated squad for the upcoming CONIFA Women's World Cup set to kick off in Bodø, Norway, from May 27 to June 9, 2024. Comprising 22 talented players from various corners of the Tamil diaspora, TEFA is gearing up to showcase its prowess on the global stage. The CONIFA Women's World Cup, organised by the Confederation of Independent Football Associations (CONIFA), promises to be a thrilling spectacle of footballing talent from non-FIFA affiliated teams. In the group stage, Tamil Eelam will lock horns with opponents Tibet...
Sri Lanka's press freedom ranking has plummeted by 15 positions to 150, down from 135 in the previous year, according to the annual release of the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) 2024 World Press Freedom Index . The index compares press freedom across 180 countries and territories. RSF's country-specific assessment of Sri Lanka reports that while Sri Lankan law ostensibly guarantees freedom of expression, the protection of journalists remains tenuous at best. Anti-terrorism legislation is frequently used to silence journalists, "especially those who try to investigate the living conditions of...
Jaffna Press Club called on Sri Lanka's authorities to "stop the war on journalists" in a protest to mark World Press Freedom Day. The Tamil journalists chanted outside their office in Jaffna, demanding justice for the killings and disappearances of fellow Tamil journalists and media workers. They also expressed the need for thorough investigations into attacks targeting media establishments and for Sri Lanka to stop all forms of intimidation, harassment, and surveillance of journalists in the North-East. The journalists held photos of Tamil journalists, Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, Aiyathurai...
Tamil livestock farmers in Mayilathamadu and Madhavanai, Batticaloa, who are protesting state-sponsored Sinhalese settler violence, alleged that they were threatened by a group affiliated with paramilitary leader and Rajapaksa ally, Pillayan. As rallies took place across the North-East on May Day, Tamil farmers in Batticaloa marked 231 days of continuous protest to highlight the longstanding grievances of Tamil cattle farmers and their families who have been suffering from the violent encroachment by Sinhalese settlers on the grazing lands traditionally used by the Tamil farmers. The incident...
Sri Lanka’s controversial truth and reconciliation mechanism, the Interim Secretariat for the Truth and Reconciliation Mechanism (ISTRM), which has been roundly criticised by international experts and Tamil civil society, was presented before high-ranking Sri Lankan military officials, Sri Lanka’s police officials, and members of the Sinhala Buddhist clergy. The President Media Division (PMD) described the meeting as “successful” adding that the mechanism aims to gather public opinion to prepare its recommendation to establish a “sustainable framework for fostering national unity and harmony...
File photograph: Ravikaran joined protesters to block the illegal installation of a Buddha statue at Kurunthurmalai, Mullaitivu, in June 2022. Sri Lanka's government bodies, primarily its forestry, wildlife and archaeology departments, are appropriating Tamil owned land for the the settlement of Sinhala people in Mullaitivu, former Northern Provincial Council member Thurairasa Ravikaran told Virakesari last week. Speaking to reporters, Ravikaran stated that in the Mullaitivu district, 74.24% of the total land area of nearly 590,000 acres is under the responsibility of Sri Lanka's Forestry...
A senior Australian military official boasted that not a single boat of asylum seekers looking to leave from Sri Lanka to Australia had been intercepted in over a year, despite Tamils continuing to flee the island in the wake of ongoing rights abuses. Deputy Commander of Joint Agency Task Force Operation Sovereign Borders of Australia, Commander Mark Whitechurch, told an audience in Colombo last month that his military “must remain vigilant”, as it continued to enact policies to deter asylum seekers. He made these comments during the launch of a joint maritime security operation entitled ‘...
The Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) has been accused of corruption and favouring trade union members when selecting beneficiaries for houses constructed through an Indian grant. A report in the Daily Mirror quoted several sources as telling the newspaper that they faced interference and “tremendous pressure” when allocating beneficiaries for the homes. “Those who have left the estates, those who already have houses and reside in the estates, but work for other private entities are not eligible for these houses,” said one source. “But we have come under tremendous pressure from the CWC to give...
Today marks the 42nd birthday of Isaipriya, a famed Tamil newsreader that was executed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009. Shoba, better known by her nom de plume Isaipriya, was just 27 years old when she was killed. A regular figure as a newsreader and telecaster, she was a well known and much loved across the Tamil homeland and the large Tamil diaspora. She presented the news on TTN and featured in the LTTE’s Oliveechchu videos that were distributed around the world. Reportedly born in Neduntheevu, Isaipriya studied at the Vembadi Girls’ High School in Jaffna until 1996. Her family were...