The Sri Lankan government last week announced it would allow foreign citizens to buy property, lifting a ban imposed by the previous government in 2014. Arguing that foreign investment was much needed in the construction sector, the finance minister Ravi Karunanayake was quoted by AFP as saying, "to further incentivise such investment, we will remove freehold right restrictions from the ground floor." "I wish to lay emphasis on the fact that the government is committed to eliminate existing socio-economic gap between North and East with the rest of the country by 2020," he added. See more...
Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division has arrested 38 people over alleged links to 'Ava group' in Jaffna, the minister of law and order, Sagala Ratnayake was quoted by Adaderana as saying. Mr Ratnayake said a further 8 individuals are currently under investigation and the officers are seeking their arrest. The arrests have been severely criticised by families who argue they took place illegally. On Monday families lodged a complaint with Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission stating it was illegal to arrest the men under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) then take them to Colombo and...
The Office of Missing Persons Act will be operational from January 1 said Sri Lanka's foreign affairs minister Mangala Samaraweera this week. "The Constitutional Council would then nominate seven members. and the Consultation Task Force would submit its report to the President with recommendations for a truth-seeking mechanism," he was quoted as saying to the Daily Mirror . The OMP bill was criticised by relatives of the missing and human rights organisations.
Sri Lanka needs to raise US$ 8 billion to bolster its economy said Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil WIckremesinghe in parliament after the country’s budget release. Noting that Sri Lanka only gained USD600-700 million this year, Mr WIckremesinghe said the government would look to achieve the US $8 Billion by securing trade deals with several countries including China, India and Singapore. Sri Lanka’s prime minister added that further income would be achieved, by securing the GSP+ trade concession from the European Union. See more here.
Tamils in Swansea, Wales this month launched a campaign to plant trees in remembrance of the genocide of the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan state, and as part of the 'Tree for Justice' campaign in Wales. One of the organisers, Tharmalingam Luxshan told South Wales Evening Post, "The Tamil community in Sri Lanka continues to face a genocide in various forms including enforced disappearances, extra judicial killings, sexual violence and ethnic discrimination over the last 70 years since the British left the island." "As a result, many Tamils were forced to flee in order to escape persecution...
Muslims in the Eastern Province protested last week over the Sri Lankan government's proposed changes to Muslim Personal Law in order comply with EU conditions for GSP+. Accusing the EU of intervening in Sri Lanka's internal affairs, protest organisers, the Sri Lanka Thawheed Jamaath (SLTJ), told the BBC, "the EU has imposed conditions that certain amendments should be made to the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Law, the main special feature and the main part of the Sri Lankan Muslim Community's civil law." "A mandatory duty of Muslims is to follow the Holy Koran on how Muslims should be married...
The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) on Monday called on the UN Committee Against Torture "to visit Sri Lanka to conduct an independent investigation into the continued 'white van' abductions, torture and sexual violence committed by the Sri Lankan security forces." "The ITJP has collected testimony from 36 Tamil victims in three European countries, who have suffered abduction, illegal detention, torture and/or sexual violence at the hands of intelligence and security officers under the Sirisena government," the group said. ITJP's executive director, Yasmin Sooka, said, “the...
The Tamil National Alliance rejected the government's offer to build 65,000 prefabricated houses in the North-East. “We don’t want those steel cages,” TNA MP, MA Sumanthiran told parliament on Friday. “We don’t want prefabricated houses. We want brick-and-mortar houses that we can give to our children and grandchildren, those that can stand the test of time and that will be permanent houses.” "We all want houses,” he added.“But we don’t want those prefabricated houses on which somebody’s making a killing." “The prefab houses did not have a foundation... You have to fix wheels and drag it...
Human Rights Watch this week urged the Sri Lankan government to take a lead on ensuring accountability for the killing of two Jaffna University students by the Sri Lankan police last month, describing it as "more of the same". "Human Rights Watch research shows that arbitrary arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings by the police are all too familiar, and the government almost never holds officers responsible," the organisation said in a statement. "If the Sri Lankan government really wants to reform its security sector, it will need to take on police abuse, which may only get worse under...
A Sinhala Buddhist monk threatened to kill a Tamil government official in Batticaloa, call him a "Tamil dog." The saffron clad monk's racist verbal abuse was captured in a video which shows a Sri Lankan police officer standing by watching events unfold. "You are a bloody tiger. My blood boils when I see you. You are a bloody dog. You are a Tamil Grama Sevaka," the monk, from Batticaloa Mangalaram, identified as Ampitiye Sumana says. "You have been filing case after case against our Sinhalese. Stop filing cases against the Sinhalese. Go and take action against what is happening in Wilpattu and...