The Sri Lankan cabinet this week approved a motion to grant state lands to former army soldiers who are reportedly 'landless', reported the Colombo Page. 

The move comes amid ongoing protests by displaced Tamils in the North-East against the Sri Lankan military's occupation of their lands. 

Sri Lanka's state minister of defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, this week  accused Tamil politicians of "false allegations", after concerns were raised about the high number of unexplained deaths among former LTTE cadres who had undergone the government's 'rehabilitation' programme. 

The alarming number of deaths prompted calls for an independent inquiry into the deaths involving international medical experts. 
 
Rejecting any concerns over the large number of deaths, Mr Wijewardene was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying, 

TNA parliamentarian S Sritharan peers through barbed wire fences constructed by the military. Photograph: Ceylon News

Tamil disappearances campaigner Balendran Jeyakumary has been called in for yet another inquiry by Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Division (TID), following an interrogation by authorities this week.

Ms Jeyakumary was summoned to appear before the TID in Colombo on the 16^th of August, where she was questioned for several hours.

She did not want to speak to reporters about the questioning, citing fears regarding her safety. The campaigner must now appear once more before Sri Lankan authorities on the 19^th of August.

The Sri Lankan government reportedly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with China over key Chinese investment and development projects.

The projects include the Hambantota port's further development, the Mattala International Airport project, as well as rail projects connecting Beliatta to Hambantota, the Daily Mirror reported.

The MoU was signed earlier this year in April, the paper added, however it was tabled in parliament last week.

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The Sri Lankan navy on Monday arrested 18 people who were fleeing the island towards Australia by boat. 

The refugees, who were on board the fishing vessel, 'Blue Star', were detained off the coast of Batticaloa after a tip off was received by the navy, the SundayTimes.lk reported. 

"Further the Navy reminds of its strong network of intelligence and regular patrols put in place to nip such illegal migration efforts in the bud as the country is very strict with illegal migration attempts," the navy reportedly said in a statement. 

Sri Lanka's joint opposition is to seek legal action over the government's introduction of the Office of Missing Persons bill, the FT.lk reported on Tuesday.

“The OPM bill was passed by violating parliamentary procedures, Standing Orders and contrary to the stipulations of the Constitution. Therefore we cannot admit it as an actual Act,” the Democratic Left Front General Secretary Vasudeva Nanayakkara was quoted by the paper as saying to the media. 

Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran, US Ambasador Atul Keshap and Minister of National Coexistence Dialogue Mano Ganesan as they arrived in Jaffna on a USAF aircraft..

The US ambassador to Sri Lanka, Atul Keshap, stressed that much remained to be done in order to ensure the implementation of the UN Human Rights council resolution on accountability and reconciliation, as he marked a historic trip to Jaffna this week.

Female headed households in Jaffna faced added insecurity to their livelihoods due to the pervasive Sri Lankan military presence in the North-East, said Jaffna residents at a Sri Lankan government consultation on the mechanisms for accountability, truth, reparations and non-recurrence earlier this month.

Women who head households, due to the large number of men who have been abducted or killed,  in the  Vadamaradchi East also made representations during the meeting, stating that the overwhelming military presence creates an atmosphere of fear across the region.

Tamil fishermen in Vadamaradchi East alleged that hundreds of Sinhalese fishermen from the south have been allowed by the Sri Lankan military to fish in restricted areas, as tensions between the groups heighten.

The Sinhalese fishermen have also been cutting the nets of the Tamil fishermen, they said at a meeting at the Divisional Secretariat in Marudhankeni earlier this month. Some 700 boats belonging to the Sinhalese can now be seen along the Vadamaradchi East coastal region they added. With Sri Lankan military assistance, the fishermen have been in waters that remains off limits to the Tamil fishermen they claimed, and have been able to do so without permits.