Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

This week, the number of skeletal remains uncovered at Chemmani reached a stark record of 387. With that figure, a patch of earth on the edge of Jaffna town became the largest mass grave ever uncovered on the island, surpassing the 376 remains recovered at Mannar. Recent days alone have seen the bodies of several children exhumed, alongside beads and bangles. These are the contents of the…

Excavations at Kokkuthoduvai mass grave site expected to resume this month

Excavations at the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave site in Mullaitivu are expected to resume on August 21 after a field visit was conducted today. 

Militarised Sri Lanka proposes launch of Climate Justice Forum at COP 28

Sri Lanka has proposed the launch of a Climate Justice Forum (CJF) at COP 28 which will be held in the United Arab Emirates, 

Speaking at the Presidential Media Centre Environment Minister Naseer Ahamed stated that Sri Lanka has proposed the establishment of a CJF with the common objective of ensuring greater climate justice and accelerating the financing of losses and damages and providing an alternative and non-traditional approach. Naseer's comments come as the Sri  Lanka state has refused multiple call

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister lashes out at devolution

Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister, Ali Sabry, decried calls for devolution whilst speaking to journalists in Colombo on Wednesday evening, claiming it would lead to greater politicisation.

Noting concerns over Sri Lanka’s abusive police force, Sabry claimed:

TNA urges for a federal solution

The Tamil National Alliance has released a statement reiterating their commitment to a federal solution and urging the Sri Lankan government to immediately hold provincial elections and provide for meaningful devolutions.

Diplomats meet with Families of the Disappeared

 

Foreign ambassadors met with Tamil Families of the Disappeared in Colombo today where they were pressed to launch an independent international investigation into the crimes committed during the final stages of the armed conflict and the fate of their loved ones.

Sri Lankan police detain and beat Sinhala journalist

Sinhala journalist Tharindu Uduwaragedara was detained and arrested whilst covering a union-led protest in Colombo last Friday.

Sri Lanka could be host to China’s next naval base

According to AidData, Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka remains a top option for China’s next naval base within the next few years, raising security concerns for the US and India.

Given its “strategic location, the popularity of China among elites and the population, and Sri Lanka’s alignment with China in UNGA voting, Hambantota is our top candidate for a future base” AidData reports.

The report adds:

“China’s single largest port investment anywhere is at Hambantota, and Beijing exercises direct control over the facility,”

Shutdown in the North-East as Tamils demand international investigation into Kokkuthoduvai mass grave

A hartal was carried out across the North-East yesterday as Tamils across the homeland demand for an international investigation into the Kokkuthodavai mass grave. 

British Tamils gather in Trafalgar Square for 40th anniversary of Black July

In rememberance of 40 years since the anti-Tamil pogroms of 1983, British Tamils assembled in Trafalgar Square.

British MPs demand recognition of Black July as a genocide

 

Marking the 40th anniversary of Black July, an anti-Tamil pogrom that saw the slaughter of over 3,000 Tamils, British MPs are calling on the British government and the international community to recognise the pogrom as an act of genocide.

In a video statement, MP Elliot Colburn, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils stated that: