Mr Ban arrived on Wednesday evening to Sri Lanka, following a visit to Myanmar to embark on his visit of the island. 

As he visited the UN office, Sinhala protesters gathered outside, condemning the UN's push for accountability for mass atrocities committed during the final stages of the armed conflict. 

The Sri Lankan Campaign called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to demand Sri Lanka provide a “full and proper reckoning” for human rights abuses, as he landed on the island on Wednesday.

Campaign Director of the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice Fred Carver wrote to the secretary general ahead of his visit, stating that “Sri Lanka’s transition from armed conflict to a lasting and a sustainable peace is far from complete, and it is important to maintain the high level of international pressure and scrutiny necessary to see it through”.

Human rights activists in Toronto marked the International Day of the Disappeared this week, with a seminar highlighting the parallels between the experiences of “disappearances” in Poland and Sri Lanka.

There is evidence to implicate Sri Lankan military intelligence officers in the disappearance of the journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, the attorney general told the country's supreme court on Tuesday. 

The additional solicitor general was quoted by the Colombo Page as stating, "two army intelligence officers posing as two LTTE members had built a personal friendship with the missing cartoonist and they have abducted the journalist and taken away to the Girithale army camp."

A 26 year old former LTTE cadre was detained and taken into a white van in Kilinochchi on Tuesday, locals reported.  

The detention has not been confirmed by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID), who has been responsible for recent white van abductions and detentions of former LTTE cadres in the North-East. 

News of the latest detention has sparked fear within families of former LTTE cadres living in Kilinochchi, who continue to be visited by TID officers claiming to be carrying out 'routine investigations'. 
 

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) called for medical facilities to be established in order to deal with shrapnel injuries. 

Stating that over 1000 Tamils were living with shrapnel embedded into their bodies as a result of bomb blasts in Vavuniya and Jaffna, the TNA MP Shivasakthi Ananthan called on the government to take action. 

He added that 113 were students, the Daily Mirror reported. 

Sri Lanka’s flagship airline carrier is set to face losses of $50 million with the upcoming closure of Colombo airport’s only runway, reports IANS.

SriLankan Airlines will lose 17% of its seat capacity during the closures, set to take place for 8 hours every day from January through to April 2017.

MDMK chief Vaiko called on the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Red Cross to help locate the whereabouts of Tamils who had disappeared during the final stages of the armed conflict.

In a statement in India, he highlighted the disappearances of several LTTE leaders, some of whom had been photographed under Sri Lankan military custody. Amongst them are thought to be LTTE leaders Yogi, Baby Subramaniam and political wing leader Ezhilan.

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province C V Wigneswaran reiterated the call for the demilitarisation of the North-East, amidst rising crime in the region.

Over 200 LTTE cadres who have been listed as missing by their relatives are actually hiding abroad, claimed Sri Lanka’s foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera.

Mr Samaraweera told journalists that though some Tamils may still be searching for their missing child, husband or brother, those listed as missing had actually smuggled themselves overseas during the final stages of the armed conflict in May 2009.