India's government on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that 144 fishermen were detained by Sri Lankan authorities. The statement by the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs, V K Singh, came in response to a written question on the issue, the Economic Times reported. "As a result of sustained diplomatic efforts, the government has so far secured the release of 347 fishermen from Sri Lankan custody," Mr Singh added. Sri Lankan authorities also currently hold 144 fishing boats, the paper added. The minister also noted that 537 fishermen were currently detained in Pakistan,...
The Sri Lankan government decided this week to establish a new TV channel to aid reconciliation, Ada Derana reported. However, the channel, entitled the 'Channel of Reconciliation', will be targetting only Tamils in the North-East. It remains unclear how the government intends to promost reconciliation through such a one way medium and what programmes will be featured. See more here .
Sri Lanka's department of archaeology pledged to investigate the alleged vandalism of what they have described as a 'Buddhist site' in the Eastern Province. The site, located in Trincomalee, was only 'discovered' this month, the Daily Mirror reported. It was reportedly vandalised by an unidentified group on December 18. The police are reportedly investigated the incident. According to the paper, the Director General of the Archaeology Department, Prof P B Mandawala has also ordered a report into the incident.
Sri Lanka's Galle Face Road was closed for several hours on Thursday due to workers from Hambantota port protesting, local papers reported . Over a hundred port workers held placards and banners, blocking motorists from using the road. The cause of the protest remains unclear however. The port which is part owned by a state-run Chinese company has been dogged with protests, with many Sinhala locals viewing the Chinese involving as a loss of sovereignty. In October, a protester at Hambantota port was assaulted by a police officer.
The continued involvement of Sri Lankan troops in UN peacekeeping missions is an “endorsement that recognizes our professionalism at international level,” claimed the commander of Sri Lanka’s army this week.
The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka called on Sri Lanka to “push forward” with commitments laid out in a United Nations resolution on accountability, in a message to mark Christmas and the New Year on Tuesday. James Dauris said that the United Kingdom shares “the welcome given by people in every community in Sri Lanka to all the steps taken over the year to help achieve and advance reconciliation between communities”. “It’s to the government’s credit that the Right to Information Act came into force in February, that Sri Lanka again committed itself to advancing reconciliation and...
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena once again reiterated his opposition to foreign judges being involved in an accountability mechanism for violations of international law, blaming “NGOs affiliated to the LTTE” for calling for international involvement. The Daily FT reported the president as stating he was “of the strict view that foreign judges should not be brought to the country at any time”. The Sri Lankan President went on to blame “some LTTE members living abroad and members of some organisations as well as NGOs affiliated to the LTTE”. He went on to claim that the UN Human...
Tamil parliamentarians should reject the proposed new consitution for Sri Lanka as it does not recognise the North-East as the Tamil homeland, Tamil lawyers have urged. Having been elected both in Northern Provincial Council elections in 2013 and parliamentary elections in 2015, on the basis of campaigns which clearly stated that the North-East was the inseparable and indisputable homeland of the Tamils, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) should not act against the people's mandate, Tamil Lawyers Forum said in a statement on Wednesday. "If Tamil leaders express support for a consitution which...
Continuing the Sri Lankan military’s interference in archaeology in the North-East, soldiers stationed in Jaffna have received lectures on archaeology and the need “to protect National Archaeological sites in Sri Lanka”, reports a military website.
A new shipping service commenced on Monday from Colombo to Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India, and Yangon in Myanmar, Economy Next reports. “Our main goal is to promote the Port of Colombo as the transshipment hub with the increased exports from Yangon to Europe, Middle East and Africa,” said Ashan Malalasekara, chairman of Arinma Holdings was quoted by the paper as saying. “We have already secured Yangon-exports to Chittagong which will be discharged at the Port of Colombo for on carriage to Chittagong,. Our target is initially to offer an every 10 day frequency and with increased liftings, we...