Home

Their Own Words
Britain has a new government, and on paper it is one of the most Tamil-literate cabinets ever assembled in Westminster.

Tamil Affairs

Tamil Affairs
Headless remains and body with raincoat uncovered at Chemmani as CID falters
Tamil Affairs
Tamil MPs mark 43 years since Black July with no justice delivered
Tamil Affairs
Uma Kumaran becomes first British Tamil minister in Foreign Office role
Tamil Affairs
US imposes 10% tariff on Sri Lanka after last-minute forced labour ban

Latest Headlines

Headless remains and body with raincoat uncovered at Chemmani as CID falters
Skeletal remains found without skulls, and a body wearing a raincoat, are among the latest discoveries at the Chemmani mass grave, as Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department told a court it had not yet been established whether a crime took place at the site.
Tamil MPs mark 43 years since Black July with no justice delivered
Tamil parliamentarians have marked the 43rd anniversary of the Black July pogrom, saying that four decades of political change in Sri Lanka have brought neither justice nor accountability for the thousands of Tamils killed in July 1983.
Uma Kumaran becomes first British Tamil minister in Foreign Office role
Uma Kumaran, the first person of Eelam Tamil heritage elected to the British parliament, has been appointed a Foreign Office minister, taking a post in the department that sets London's foreign policy after pressing it from the backbenches over Chemmani and accountability for the Tamil genocide.
US imposes 10% tariff on Sri Lanka after last-minute forced labour ban
Sri Lankan goods will face a 10% import tariff in the US from Friday, following the country’s measures to ban imports linked to forced labour
Civil society urges EU to press Sri Lanka over occupied Valikamam North land
Civil society representatives in Jaffna have appealed to European Union ambassadors to press the Sri Lankan government to revoke the 2013 gazette acquiring 6,317 acres in Valikamam North, as displaced landowners enter a fourth month of weekly protests demanding the return of their land.
Eelam fishermen appeal to Vijay over Tamil Nadu trawler incursions
Fishermen from Delft have publicly appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to halt incursions by trawlers from the Indian state, saying nets worth millions of rupees have been destroyed and that affected families have no avenue for compensation.
EU delegation visits Chemmani as remains identified reach 471
A European Union delegation visited the Chemmani mass grave excavation site in Jaffna on Wednesday, observing the court-supervised excavation and receiving updates on the investigation into a site that has become the largest mass grave ever uncovered on the island, as the number of sets of human remains identified there rose to 471.
Britain's new cabinet on Tamils and Sri Lanka
A large number of Britain's new cabinet's members have addressed Tamil audiences, tabled parliamentary questions or spoken in the House of Commons on Sri Lanka over the past seventeen years. We look back on their record.
Recognise the genocide, families of the disappeared tell EU at Chemmani
Relatives of the forcibly disappeared confronted a European Union delegation visiting the Chemmani mass grave, demanding recognition of the Tamil genocide and an international investigation, and dismissing the delegation's response as falling short of their expectations.
EU delegation granted access to Chemmani mass grave as tally reaches 454
A European Union delegation will visit the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna on Wednesday after a court granted access, as excavations enter their 92nd day and the number of remains recovered rises to 454, amid sustained calls for international oversight of the investigation.

Editorial - Whose Self-Determination? 

Prison rules

Rewiring Britain

FEATURES
Britain's new cabinet on Tamils and Sri Lanka
From Mullivaikkal to the Foreign Office – Ed Miliband’s record on Tamils and Sri Lanka
Possible conjoined twins and seated burial among latest Chemmani discoveries as toll reaches 446

Tamil News

Headless remains and body with raincoat uncovered at Chemmani as CID falters

Jul 24
Skeletal remains found without skulls, and a body wearing a raincoat, are among the latest discoveries at the Chemmani mass grave, as Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department told a court it had not yet been established whether a crime took place at the site.
Tamil MPs mark 43 years since Black July with no justice delivered
Tamil parliamentarians have marked the 43rd anniversary of the Black July pogrom, saying that four decades of political change in Sri Lanka have brought neither justice nor accountability for the thousands of Tamils killed in July 1983.
Uma Kumaran becomes first British Tamil minister in Foreign Office role
Uma Kumaran, the first person of Eelam Tamil heritage elected to the British parliament, has been appointed a Foreign Office minister, taking a post in the department that sets London's foreign policy after pressing it from the backbenches over Chemmani and accountability for the Tamil genocide.
US imposes 10% tariff on Sri Lanka after last-minute forced labour ban
Sri Lankan goods will face a 10% import tariff in the US from Friday, following the country’s measures to ban imports linked to forced labour
Jana Nayagan - Dreary denouement

Civil society urges EU to press Sri Lanka over occupied Valikamam North land
Civil society representatives in Jaffna have appealed to European Union ambassadors to press the Sri Lankan government to revoke the 2013 gazette acquiring 6,317 acres in Valikamam North, as displaced landowners enter a fourth month of weekly protests demanding the return of their land.
Eelam fishermen appeal to Vijay over Tamil Nadu trawler incursions
Fishermen from Delft have publicly appealed to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to halt incursions by trawlers from the Indian state, saying nets worth millions of rupees have been destroyed and that affected families have no avenue for compensation.
EU delegation visits Chemmani as remains identified reach 471
A European Union delegation visited the Chemmani mass grave excavation site in Jaffna on Wednesday, observing the court-supervised excavation and receiving updates on the investigation into a site that has become the largest mass grave ever uncovered on the island, as the number of sets of human remains identified there rose to 471.
Britain's new cabinet on Tamils and Sri Lanka
A large number of Britain's new cabinet's members have addressed Tamil audiences, tabled parliamentary questions or spoken in the House of Commons on Sri Lanka over the past seventeen years. We look back on their record.
Remembering Black July
Today marks 43 years since the horrors of the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983, when thousands of Tamils were killed by Sinhala mobs backed by the then UNP government and state forces.
Recognise the genocide, families of the disappeared tell EU at Chemmani
Relatives of the forcibly disappeared confronted a European Union delegation visiting the Chemmani mass grave, demanding recognition of the Tamil genocide and an international investigation, and dismissing the delegation's response as falling short of their expectations.
EU delegation granted access to Chemmani mass grave as tally reaches 454
A European Union delegation will visit the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna on Wednesday after a court granted access, as excavations enter their 92nd day and the number of remains recovered rises to 454, amid sustained calls for international oversight of the investigation.
From Mullivaikkal to the Foreign Office – Ed Miliband’s record on Tamils and Sri Lanka
Britain's new Foreign Secretary spent his years as Labour leader repeatedly pressing for an international investigation into war crimes in Sri Lanka, addressing British Tamil gatherings and even writing for the Tamil Guardian.
Urimaikkaha Ezhu Tamila 2026: Youth take up call for Tamil self-determination
Tamils from across Europe gathered in Brussels for the annual Urimaikkaha Ezhu Tamila protest, reaffirming calls for Tamil Eelam, justice for the Tamil genocide and the right of the Tamil nation to self-determination.
Pungudutivu fishermen protest against Indian trawler incursions
Fishermen in Pungudutivu have protested against continued incursions by Indian trawlers into waters off the Tamil homeland, saying bottom trawling from Tamil Nadu has destroyed crab nets worth millions of rupees and is steadily eroding their livelihoods.
Valikamam North residents continue protest against military land occupation
Residents of Valikamam North staged a protest at Palaly Junction for the fifth consecutive week, demanding the return of lands and homes that have remained under Sri Lankan military occupation for 36 years.
Valikamam North council will move to demolish unauthorised military hospital, says Sumanthiran
The Valikamam North Pradeshiya Sabha has the legal power to demolish a Sri Lankan military hospital being built in Vasavilan without local authority approval, and will proceed to do so if the military ignores its notices, President's Counsel M. A. Sumanthiran has said.
Tamil MPs join Keppapilavu residents as Tamil land protest continues
Residents of Keppapilavu in Mullaitivu marked the 25th consecutive day of their renewed protest on Saturday, demanding the full return of ancestral lands that remain under Sri Lankan military occupation.
'A living language' - Singapore PM vows to keep Tamil flourishing
Marking the Singapore Tamil Teachers' Union's 75th anniversary, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong paid tribute to the city-state's Tamil educators and pledged continued state support to keep Tamil thriving, in one of the few countries where the language holds official status.
Possible conjoined twins and seated burial among latest Chemmani discoveries as toll reaches 446
The remains of two infants found joined together, provisionally recorded as possible conjoined twins, and a skeleton buried in a seated position are among the discoveries of the past three days, as the number of skeletal remains identified at the Jaffna site rose to 446.

World News

Tibetan activist dies after self-immolation outside UN headquarters

Jul 10
A Tibetan independence activist has died after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in New York, in a act of protest that Tibetan exile groups described as an appeal for Tibetan independence and unity.
Hamas offers to hand Gaza authority to technocratic committee
Hamas has announced the dissolution of its governing body in Gaza and said it is ready to hand civilian authority to a Palestinian technocratic committee, in a move aimed at reviving a stalled US-backed ceasefire plan as Israel continues to control large parts of the devastated territory.
German police arrest Rwanda genocide suspect accused of ordering killings
German prosecutors have arrested a German-Rwandan national on suspicion of complicity in genocide and 25 counts of murder during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda.
Somali woman jailed for three years over social media criticism
Sadia Moalim Ali, a 27-year-old nursing graduate and rickshaw driver from Somalia, has been sentenced to three years’ imprisonment after being convicted of insulting government institutions over comments she made on social media.
UN experts demand independent investigation into death of Indigenous leader in Nicaragua
UN human rights experts have demanded an independent investigation into the death in state custody of Indigenous Miskito leader Brooklyn Rivera, warning that his prolonged enforced disappearance and death may amount to crimes against humanity for which the Nicaraguan government bears legal responsibility.
Baloch activists accuse state-backed death squads of new killings
A fresh wave of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances has been documented across Balochistan this month, as Baloch rights groups recorded the recovery of several bodies of men who had earlier been forcibly taken, and appealed once more to international institutions that have largely ignored the province.
UN experts demand investigation following Israel’s killing of Lebanese journalists
Three UN experts called for a full and independent investigation following Israel's killing of three Lebanese journalists.
Sudan hospital ‘drone strike’ kills 64, including children
At least 64 people, including 13 children, have been killed in an attack on a hospital in Sudan’s Darfur region, as violence continues to devastate the already collapsing healthcare system.
FIFA fines Israel for racism and discrimination but clears settlement clubs
On Thursday, FIFA sanctioned the Israel Football Association over breaches of racism and discrimination, but cleared Israeli clubs playing in settlements.
UK jury acquits woman of terrorism charge over Hamas comments
A woman who told a protest crowd that Hamas is “fighting for freedom” has been found not guilty of expressing support for a proscribed organisation, following a closely watched case in a British court.
Two Indian journalists detained for filming docked Iranian warship
Two Indian journalists were detained for filming a docked Iranian warship in Kochi, Kerala.
Spain withdraws ambassador from Israel amid Gaza genocide and Iran war tensions
Spain has withdrawn its ambassador to Israel in the latest escalation of a deepening diplomatic dispute between Madrid and Tel Aviv over Israel’s assault on Gaza and the recent United States and Israeli attacks on Iran.
UN peacekeepers refuse order to leave South Sudan opposition stronghold

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has said it will keep its peacekeeping force in the town of Akobo despite an order by the South Sudanese military to vacate the area ahead of a planned offensive.

Former Syrian colonel charged with crimes against humanity in landmark UK case
A former colonel in Syria’s Air Force Intelligence has appeared before a London court charged with crimes against humanity, in what prosecutors say is the first case of its kind brought under British law.
'India stands with Israel,' Modi says during state visit
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi concluded a two-day state visit to Israel on Thursday, bolstering cooperation in multiple areas, including defence, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and agriculture.
'Journalists being killed in record numbers' - 129 press members killed in 2025
A record 129 press members were killed in 2025, according to the latest report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Scotland’s ‘independence within reach’ says first minister
Scottish independence is “within reach”, First Minister John Swinney has said, as a new poll projects the Scottish National Party just one seat short of a majority ahead of this year’s Holyrood election.
UN investigators warn RSF assault on El Fasher bears ‘hallmarks of genocide’
A United Nations fact-finding mission has determined that atrocities carried out during the siege and takeover of the Sudanese city of El Fasher bear the “hallmarks of genocide”, condemning the conduct of paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fighters in Darfur during the ongoing conflict.
UK moves toward new law to ban Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
As international criticism mounts over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) involvement in Tehran's fatal suppression of anti-government protests, the UK government reportedly set to introduce legislation that would enable it to officially outlaw the organisation. The action comes after the European Union made the decision last month to put the IRGC to its official list of terrorist organisations, adding groups like Islamic State, Hamas, and al-Qaeda. 
Tibetan diaspora votes worldwide for government-in-exile
Tibetans around the world began a global election on Sunday to choose a parliament and political leadership for the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
OPINION
Colombo does not need the Kfir — it needs Israel
Transitional justice cannot exist without truth
Did Mullivaikkal End History?
CULTURE & COMMUNITY
Jana Nayagan - Dreary denouement
'A boy from war-torn Sri Lanka' - Nishan Canagarajah receives his knighthood
From Tamil school stages to the FIFA World Cup
INTERVIEW
'If we do not tell our own stories, others will' - Ana Pararajasingham on Uprooted
'This will waken things up' - Scottish MSP on Tamil genocide recognition
From Vadamaradchi to the Élysée - the Tamil baker who conquered Paris