• Australia grateful for Sri Lanka’s efforts to curb boat-arrivals

    Apr 21

    Four months after the last boat from Sri Lanka carrying potential refugees arrived in Australia, the country’s Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has expressed Australia’s gratitude to Sri Lanka for acting to curb “illegal” boat arrivals, reported The Australian.

    Speaking at a joint Sri Lanka-Australia security conference on transnational crime in Canberra, attended by representatives of the Defence, army, navy and customs of both countries, Morrison said that the relationship between the countries could be broadened.

    “[I]n just over six months, we have ensured that we are stopping the boats and we are being true to our promises, we are doing exactly what we said we would do and it is having exactly the effect we said it would have.”

    “We must apply the same focus and co-operation that we have achieved on people-smuggling to the broader challenge of transnational crime,” the minister said.

  • South Korea commends 'tremendous' post-conflict progress in Sri Lanka
    A South Korean envoy, after visiting Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, noted ‘tremendous’ post-conflict progress , reports ColomboPage.

    The South-Korean envoy further commended the Sri Lankan government on establishing a Presidential Commission on Missing Persons, and emphasised its commitment to maintain strong bilateral relations with Sri Lanka.
  • Tamils do not enjoy same rights as Sinhalese – EPC councillor

    Tamil people in Sri Lanka do not enjoy the same rights and benefits that the Sinhalese people on the island have, said Eastern Provincial Councillor M Rajeswaran, according to the Uthayan.

  • Canadian Tamils outline consensus position on Eelam Tamil issues

    Over 80 Canadian Tamil organisations have come together to create a common position on Eelam Tamil activism, while rejecting the proscription of diaspora organisations and individuals by the Sri Lankan government.

    The Tamil Community General Assembly, made up of community and political organisations, unanimously adopted a document, outlining 34 key points regarding Eelam Tamil political activism.

    The document called on the international community to recognise Eelam Tamil nationhood, saying that the Sri Lankan government was continuing a “systematic and accelerated process of genocide” in the Tamil homeland and that an internationally supported transitional administration should be implemented to halt the genocide.

  • ‘Breaking the Silence’ held at Kingston University

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    (Pictures: KUTS)

  • Army rounds up former LTTE cadres, warns against terrorist activities
    Former LTTE cadres in Kokkillai, Kokkuthoduvaai and Karunaaddukeni in Mullaitivu district were rounded up by soldiers and warned against taking part in terrorist activities, the Uthayan reported.

    Many parents of former cadres demanded to stay with their children, when military vehicles arrived at 9am on Sunday to take the former cadres away.

    The day before, soldiers had visited houses of former LTTE cadre, instructing them to attend the meeting.

    The former cadre were subsequently released in the afternoon along with their parents after being handed a saaram (sarong), however the incident has left local residents in fear.

  • Farmers in Iranaimadu protest against water diversion plans
    Photograph @tamilvan

  • Breaking The Silence Journal: Kingston University

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    (Pictures: KUTS)

  • EPDP backs TNA resolution opposing Jaffna land grabs
    Photograph @Hamsanan


    A resolution demanding an immediate end to the Sri Lankan government’s forcible acquisition of private lands in Valikamam, Jaffna, and the return of seized lands to their owners was passed unanimously at a meeting of the Jaffna District Coordinating Committee meeting on Monday.

    Reflecting the intense public anger over the land seizures, the resolution tabled by the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) was supported by the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP, a key pro-government paramilitary group-cum-political party). However, the EPDP defended the government on other seizures also discussed, prompting criticism from those who attended the meeting.

    "There was agreement on the issue of land acquisition at the meeting today, with the resolution I moved being unanimously adopted, after being seconded by Chandrakumar MP [of the EPDP]," TNA parliamentarian, M.A. Sumanthiran told Tamil Guardian shortly after the meeting ended.

    "The resolution called for the acquisition process be abandoned, Section 2 Notices be withdrawn and the lands be handed back to the owners," he added, referring to the legal ordnance under which the government is seizing private land.

  • Sri Lanka’s debt repayments exceed revenue – Sunday Times

    The servicing of public debt soaked up all of Sri Lankan government revenue in 2013, The Sunday Times reported.

    That the government is having to borrow to meet its debt repayments is itself increasing the debt burden – even as state revenue is falling, the paper said.

    Sri Lanka’s much-vaunted growth in GDP “has been achieved by increasing foreign and domestic debt and cutting developmental expenditure [and thus by] undermining macroeconomic fundamentals,” the paper warned.

    Foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2013 fell from the year before to US$ 916 million, mostly in hotels, the paper also said.

  • British tourist arrested and expelled for having Buddha tattoo

    A tourist from Britain was arrested at Katunayake Airport for having a tattoo of the Buddha on her hand, reported the Daily Mirror.

    Michele Calmon, 37, landed in Sri Lanka this morning and was produced before Negombo Magistrates Court today.

    Katunayake Airport police told the magistrate that the tattoo was contrary to Buddhism, who then transferred Calmon to the Mirihana detention camp for immediate extradition.

  • Bishops denied access to Tamil political prisoners on Easter

    The Bishop of Mannar Rayappu Joseph has been denied access to visit Tamil political prisoners over Easter, as customary in the Catholic Church, the Uthayan reported.

  • Foreign Correspondents Assoc questions visa restriction on BBC journalist
    The Foreign Correspondents Association (FCA) said it was "unaware of any time limits on visas issued to foreign journalists posted to Sri Lanka", following reports that the BBC journalist Charles Haviland was refused a one-year visa extension, on the grounds that he had completed five years as a foreign correspondent in Sri Lanka.

    Rejecting reports that Mr. Haviland's visa had been denied, officials at the ministry stressed that it had in fact been extended, by three months, reported the Nation.

    Media Minister and government spokesperson, Keheliya Rambukwella, was quoted in Ceylon Today as saying,
    "It would be unfair to permit any foreigner to live in the country for long periods, let alone journalists,"

    "He has stayed in the country for over five years, and we have granted him a further three-month extension on that visa. Granting him any further extension would be unreasonable."
    Pointing out that the five year time limit also extended to international NGO workers, the Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media and Information, Charitha Herath tweeted,
    “Sri Lanka visa policy for foreign correspondents is maximum five years. Some of them are here more than 9, 10 years,”
  • Guard attacks prisoner - Jaffna
    A prisoner in Jaffna was attacked by a prison guard today, reports Uthayan.

    The prisoner, whose identity remains unknown, has been admitted to Jaffna hospital after suffering injuries.
  • We do not welcome South African initiative - Minister Champika Ranawaka
    Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka criticised efforts by South Africa to facilitate dialogue between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), stating the Tamil struggle should not be equated to that against Apartheid.

    “We do not welcome this initiative," Mr. Ranawaka, Minister of Technology, Research and Atomic Energy, and also the General Secretary of the government coalition partner, Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU), told Sri Lanka's Sunday Times, calling for "a     fuller investigation of all matters".

    Organisations like Global Tamil Forum (GTF) and the British Tamil Forum (BTF) 'had created the impression that the so-called armed struggle in Sri Lanka by Tamil groups was similar to the one waged by those in the African National Congress', the Sunday Times cited him as saying.

    “We fought against separation. In South Africa, they fought against apartheid,” he said, reportedly adding, 'it is only recently that the South African Government has obtained “our side of the story".

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