Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Germany Manori Unambuwe reportedly called for the establishment of an “anti terrorism task force on cyber security” to monitor social media platforms, citing the success of Tamil campaigns and activism in the diaspora.
In the video conference organised by the Ministry of Foreign Relations Unambuwe reportedly told her fellow diplomats that “the fight today is in cyberspace”.
“For example there was an Instagram campaign recently which ran the tag line – I am a Tamil and the genocide is a part of my identity,” she said, referring to a social media campaign that went viral. In response to "clarifications" made by the Peel District School Board in Canada, which withdraw a statement recognising Tamil genocide, Tamil activists launched the viral "I am Tamil" campaign which garnered hundreds of posts from around the world. The school board eventually retracted their statement and apologised to the Tamil community for the “significant hurt” it caused, pledging to support Tamil genocide education efforts.
“These things must be monitored closely and countered,” said Unambuwe. “You have to have a counter terrorism Task force on Cyberspace to monitor these campaigns in Europe and use Sri Lankan (Sinhala) youth as a front to counter these things.”
Unambuwe who was reportedly personally appointed by Sri Lankan president and accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa in July, has caused controversy in the past, when she used her social media platform to attack the Swiss government and asylum seekers.
“Forget your Korean language exams, TOEFL, or smuggling yourself to Australia,” she posted. "Just claim the Sri Lankan government threatened you, and harassed you, and you’ll get first class tickets for you and your family straight to a 1st world life in Switzerland! All courtesy of the Swiss embassy.”
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