Diaspora Tamils are providing assistance to families across the North-East who are struggling under Sri Lanka’s lockdown.

On March 20, the Sri Lankan government imposed an island-wide curfew to curb the spread of coronavirus, but this brought hardship to many families in the North-East.

Low income and mainly female headed households who depend on daily wages to support their families have been hit the hardest by the lockdown.

Trincomalee

An online fundraiser was created by Praveen Arulpirabakar, former Chair of Canada’s Tamil Youth Organisation after he was contacted by Kapilar Social Advancement Council’s (KSAC) President who was concerned about the effect of the government imposed curfew on low income families.

The fundraiser has raised $27,485 CAD which has helped 3,630 families from 66 villages in Trincomalee.

Volunteers from KSAC packed and distributed the packages to the families in need.

“The online fundraiser showcased the power of our Tamil community. It was amazing to see how the Tamil youth from back home and the international Tamil youth worked together for a greater good,” Pirathanya Arulpirabkar, one of the fundraiser organisers, told Tamil Guardian.

“Since our people continue to be treated like second-class citizens in their own ancestral land, it is up to the Tamil diaspora to come together to raise money for families in the North-East. If not us, then who? We must never let our own people suffer from hunger,” she added.

 Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi

An activist from Jaffna and journalist from Mullaitivu made efforts through social media to raise funds to provide packages to families in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu which were distributed by a group of volunteers.

In just three days, they were able to provide support over 300 families, including families of the disappeared and Maaveerar families. The packages included flour, rice, lentils, sugar and oil.