• UK, Australia and Canada caution Tamil citizens over Sri Lanka's terror laws after diaspora bans

    Apr 12
    Following the Sri Lankan government's proscription of 15 diaspora organisations and over 400 individuals, the UK, Australia and Canada cautioned Tamil citizens travelling to Sri Lanka of the country's terrorism laws. 
     
    In travel advice updated April 11th, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) stated:
    "On 21 March 2014, the Sri Lankan government designated 16 organisations and 424 individuals, including the British Tamils Forum and Global Tamil Forum, for purported links to terrorism."
    Warning its citizens of Sri Lanka's draconian terrorism laws, the FCO's travel advice also states:
    "The Sri Lankan Prevention of Terrorism Act permits prolonged detention without charge or trial. If you are detained, you should ask the authorities to contact the British High Commission."
  • Sri Lanka collects details of Tamil diaspora - TNA MP Ariyanenthiran
    Sri Lankan intelligence officers are actively collecting the details of the Tamil diaspora from Trincomalee, the TNA MP Ariyanenthiran told the Uthayan this week.

    Using local government officials, the intelligence officers alongside the army are collecting details of those who fled after the 1983 riots, in order to prepare a new list of individuals to proscribe, said Mr. Ariyanenthiran.

    Intelligence officers have decided to collect information directly from voter lists after local government officials informed them of the difficulty of obtained such information.

  • Not soldiers but ‘militarised civilians’ says Army
    Writing to Sri Lanka's Sunday Times regarding a photograph published by the paper last week depicting soldiers helping to repair a roof at a Dutch hospital in Colombo, the Sri Lankan Army media spokesperson, said,
  • Spirit of reconciliation at New Year says President... in Sinhala
    In an official message marking Sinhala and Tamil new year celebrations Monday, the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, pointed to the spirit of reconciliation of 'Aluth Avurudu' [Sinhala word for New Year, commonly used to refer specifically to 'Sinhala New Year'].

    The message said,
  • Body found in Visvamadu of Tamil woman working for Army
    17:29 BST

    The body of a Tamil woman was found in a well in Visvamadu, local residents told Tamil Guardian this evening.

    The body, which appeared to have been raped, was recovered by villagers in the presence of police officers at 6.30pm today.
  • Indian firm proposes $300m ilmenite processing plant in Pulmoddai
    An Indian firm, Narayan Titanium Industries Ltd., has proposed a US $300 million project of a titanium ore (ilmenite) processing plant in Pulmoddai, Trincomalee, the Sunday Times reported.

    The plant would process the raw mineral ilmenite from Pulmoddai and Mullaitivu into the commercially lucrative pigment of Titanium Dioxide.

  • Discussions with South African envoy 'very fruitful' - TNA
    The Tamil National Alliance said in a brief statement Saturday its discussions this week with the South African envoy, Cyril Ramaposa, had been "very fruitful".

    "We look forward to continued engagement with the Special Envoy especially during his impending visit to Sri Lanka," TNA said.

    The statement did not elaborate on the content or conclusions of the discussions in South Africa.
  • Arrest, detention and torture of Tamil women by security forces
    Reports have emerged of the detention and torture of Tamil women arrested by Sri Lankan security forces who have accused the women of having 'terrorist links'.

    A report, published in Groundviews said:
    "Recently there are several females in Boosa. Two of them are above the age of 60. Kanapathipillai Yogarani 61 years of age was arrested in latter part of March. The only allegation against her is that her son residing in a foreign country has been sending her money periodically.

  • Sri Lankan regime’s attempt to silence legitimate criticism is unacceptable' - Canada's Liberal party
    Condemning the Sri Lankan government's refusal to participate in the upcoming investigation by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Canada's Shadow Foreign Minister, and Liberal MP for Westmount-Ville-Marie, Marc Garneau, said that the "Sri Lankan regime’s attempt to silence legitimate criticism" through the proscription of Tamil diaspora groups who were supportive of the international investigation, was "unacceptable", urging the Canadian government to consider "additional measures" if Sri Lanka did not lift the proscription.

    "We also condemn attempts by the Sri Lankan government to silence organizations and individuals pressing for such an investigation– including a number of Tamil-Canadian groups based in Canada – by designating them as terrorists and threatening to freeze their assets and financial resources," said Mr. Garneau in a statement issued on Friday.

  • Another mother and daughter arrested by TID

    A Tamil woman and her teenage daughter were arrested on Wednesday night, reports BBC Tamil.

  • Sri Lanka says troops killed ‘Gopi’, two others

    Sri Lanka’s military said Friday troops had shot dead three men being sought for attempting to revive the LTTE, including ‘Gopi’ described as the leader.

    Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said the incident took place when troops surrounded them in jungle near Padaviya in the Nedunkerny area, Vavuniya.

    “Three armed suspects who attempted to escape the area confronted the troops in the cordon. All three were killed,” he said in a press release.

  • Last-minute cancellation of British MPs' trip to Sri Lanka amidst controversy

    A cross-party trip by British MPs to Sri Lanka was called off at the last minute Thursday night after Labour members of the delegation pulled out due to party pressure, reported Channel 4 News.

    The all-expenses-paid trip, funded by former cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan’s charity Foundation of Goodness, would have seen MPs, and some of their partners, travel to the island for a ‘fact-finding’ visit, which would have included a meeting with senior Sri Lankan ministers and officials and President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who stands accused of command responsibility for war crimes.

    The Labour MPs pulled out after intervention from a senior frontbencher who “strongly objected” to the visit, Channel 4 said.

    That prompted the Conservative MPs to also abandon the trip.

  • Sri Lanka’s chairing of Commonwealth criticised again
    Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Chairpersonship of the Commonwealth again drew critical attention this week in the wake of his government’s categorical refusal to cooperate with the UN investigation into its mass atrocities and rights abuses

    On Thursday the matter was raised in Britain’s parliament when Foreign Secretary William Hague was asked by his opposition counterpart Douglas Alexander whether, in the light of the UN probe, he had asked President Rajapaksa to resign as Chairperson.

    Mr Hague replied any decision on the Chair-in-Office role is for all Commonwealth Heads of Government to take by consensus.

  • BTF cautions British politicians against aiding Sri Lanka’s propaganda

    Reacting to revelations that a trip by British MPs to Sri Lanka was cancelled at the eleventh hour on Thursday, the British Tamil Forum (BTF) urged UK politicians to be wary of being co-opted by the Sri Lankan government into whitewashing its rights abuses.

    “It is important that the UK politicians realise the serious nature of the crimes that Sri Lanka is trying to cover up by using them in its propaganda,” BTF representative S.A.N Rajkumar told Tamil Guardian.

    “I am not surprised that the trip has been called off – the MPs have had a narrow escape as their visit would have been a propaganda coup for the government” at a time of intense international attention on Sri Lanka’s rights abuses, he said.

  • 65 arrested over 'LTTE-links' in past month - Sri Lanka police

    Sri Lankan police have arrested 65 Tamils over the past month on accusations of attempting to revive the LTTE, a spokesman told reporters in Colombo on Thursday.

    See reports by AFP and Daily Mirror.

    Speaking in Sinhala, Police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said that five of those arrested have been released, and the remaining 60 detainees, including 10 women, are being held at the notorious Boosa detention camp in the south and another in Vavuniya in the north.

Subscribe to Tamil Affairs

Most-Read Articles

Senior Buddhist monk from Anuradhapura remanded over sexual abuse of minor
A senior Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and chief prelate of the Anuradhapura Atamasthana,…
Velupillay makes history as first Tamil at a FIFA World Cup
Photograph: @Socceroos Nishan Velupillay has been selected in Australia's squad…
17 years today - A massacre in Mullivaikkal
To mark 17 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens…
In Pictures - Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day commemorated in Mullivaikkal
All photographs by Uthayarasa Shalin Thousands of Tamils gathered at Mullivaikkal…
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay marks Mullivaikkal remembrance with pledge to support Eelam Tamils
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay issued a message on Monday evening marking…