A demonstration under the banner “Rise for Freedom, Tamils” took place on Monday outside the European Union headquarters in Brussels, as Tamils gathered to demand international justice for the Tamil genocide and reaffirm their call for the liberation of Tamil Eelam.

The protest, which drew large crowds from across Europe, marked what organisers described as a “popular uprising” for Tamil self-determination.

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry has claimed that a “constructive discussion on domestic reconciliation processes” took place during a meeting with visiting UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, despite years of inaction and sustained rejection of such mechanisms by Tamil victim-survivor communities.

Dominic Premananth, a Tamil lawyer and human rights activist, has called on the UN High Commissioner Volker Türk to “speak to the affected Tamil people and see the truth” during his visit to the island this week.

Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam has criticised the National People’s Power (NPP) party, accusing it of lacking consistent principles after it supported the candidate from the paramilitary Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) in the Vakarai Pradeshiya Sabha council vote.