Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, David Holly called on Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday to voice support for development in Sri Lanka despite ongoing concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.

Sri Lankan Minister, Ajith Nivard Cabraal, defended the governments $250 million currency swap with Bangladesh implying it was not disgraceful for Sri Lanka to seek this arrangement with one of the most impoverished countries in the world.

The Sri Lankan Air Force and police are monitoring locals in Mullaitivu, using newly launched drone surveillance, as the area is in lockdown. 

A cargo ship carrying chemicals caught fire spilling microplastics across Sri Lanka’s coastline and causing the worst environmental disaster in the island history.

At midnight on May 31, 1981, the Jaffna Public Library, the crucible of Tamil literature and heritage, was set ablaze by Sri Lankan security forces and state-sponsored mobs. The burning has since been marked by Eelam Tamils as an act of genocide.

A COVID-19 treatment centre that was set up by the Sri Lankan army at Vavuniya Economic Center, is facing severe difficulties in coping with patient demands due to extreme weather over the last couple of weeks. 

Tamil patients demanded that alternative arrangements be made for the benefit of the sick people. Elderly patients are reportedly facing many difficulties as the 200 bed makeshift hospital is lacking proper facilities.

In a landmark decision, the British Upper Tribunal has recognised the risk of arrest and torture Tamil activists face in Sri Lanka in a judgement granting an appeal to two Tamil asylum seekers in the case known as KK & RS vs the Home Secretary.

UK Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific, Stephen Kinnock, has called on the British government to impose sanctions on the Commander of Sri Lanka’s Army, General Shavendra Silva, for his role in war crimes and human rights violations during the end of the armed conflict as commander of the notorious 58^th Division.

Tamil diaspora organisations across the world commemorated Tamil Genocide and Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day noting the tens of thousands of Tamil civilians who perished during the Sri Lankan government’s relentless shelling and bombardment of civilians during the end of the armed conflict.

Strong gusts of wind damaged houses and destroyed the woods in multiple parts of the Tamil homeland throughout Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Mullaitivu

Vaikasi Pongal celebrations at Vattappalai Kannaki Amman temple in Mullaitivu took place under the strict control and surveillance of the Sri Lankan police and military on Monday. 

Vesak lanterns were set up by the Sri Lankan military in public places in Jaffna despite warnings not to hold Vesak Day events as the corona spread in the country intensifies.

Retired general Muhammad Saad Khattak, High Commissioner for Pakistan, met with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday during a meeting in which he expressed a desire to strengthen cooperation despite ongoing concerns over Sri Lanka’s human rights record.