Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau released a statement to mark the 10th anniversary of the Mullivaikkal massacre earlier today, calling for a “meaningful accountability process that has the trust and confidence of the survivors”.

Alongside the large-scale event in Mullivaikkal itself, remembrance events were held across the Tamil homeland today to mark the 10th anniversary of the end of the armed conflict, when tens of thousands of Tamils were massacred by Sri Lankan armed forces. 

Tamils gather at Mullivaikkal to remember genocide 10 years on

Mullaitivu

Students at the University of Jaffna alongside staff defied threats from the Sri Lankan army and police to commemorate May 18 at the Mullivaikkal monument in the campus.

Tamils across the homeland gathered at the Mullivaikkal memorial today 10 years since the end of the armed conflict to remember the killing of tens of thousands by Sri Lankan armed forces. 

The Sri Lankan military announced that Shavendra Silva, an army commander who has been the subject of international calls to face trial for war crimes, will be one of several senior military figures to participate in celebrations to mark “a decade upon eradication of the brutal terrorism”.

The events, dubbed by the military as “National War Heroes’ Day”, are set to start tomorrow. A military press release said troops from the “victorious and dignified Army” will take part in events across the island.

British MPs join the Tamil community in remembering the tenth anniversary of the Mullivaikkal massacre. 

Helen Grant MP for Maidstone and the Weald tweeted and shared an online video message in rememberance of "the terrible Mullivaikkal genocide of innocent Tamils 10 years ago."

Robert Halfon MP for Harlow expressed the importance of commemorating the loss of so many innocent lives. 

Marking 10 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18^th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Day’. The total number of Tamil civilians killed during the final months is widely contested. After providing an initial death toll of 40,000, the UN found evidence suggesting that 70,000 were killed. Local census records indicate that at least 146,679 people are unaccounted for and presumed to have been killed during the Sri Lankan military offensive.

The Mullivaikal Remembrance Public Forum, the collective responsible for organising remembrance activities in the North-East on the tenth anniversary of the Tamil genocide made a declaration on May 18, calling for the continued unity of the Tamil nation to struggle for justice and self-determination.

As part of a collaborative project marking the 10th year since the end of the war in Sri Lanka, today the Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, Tamil Guardian and 47 Roots, launched: www.RememberMay2009.com. 

The website aims to provide a resource that maps out the atrocities that took place during the final months of the armed conflict and reflects on their impact 10 years later.