Mullivaikkal kanji was distributed outside Theravil Thuyilum Illam today to remember the victims of the Tamil genocide. 

Local residents drank kanji and lit candles to honour the memory of the Tamils who were trapped and subjected to heavy shelling in the Sri Lankan government designated 'No Fire Zones' in 2009. 

May 18 will mark 16 years since the end of the armed conflict, which saw the killing of 169,796 Tamil people by the Sri Lankan military. 

A survivor of the 2009 Mullivaikkal genocide delivered a harrowing testimony, recalling how Sri Lankan soldiers looted jewellery from the bodies of Tamils. 

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was "pleased" his government had placed sanctions on Sri Lankan war criminals, as he released a message ahead of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day on Sunday.

In a statement sent to the Tamil Guardian, Starmer wrote that "acknowledgement and accountability" is required for past atrocities, as he joined Tamils and others around the world to "commemorate those who who were killed and experienced widespread human rights abuses" in the armed conflict. 

Sri Lankan military involvement in civilian life across the Tamil homeland has continued this week, with the armed forces continuing to entrench themselves in events across the North-East.

Pottuvil, Amparai: Military embedded in civilian and ecological spaces

^{File photograph: Gunaratne on the far fight, at the war front in 2009.}

The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) has submitted a dossier to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office calling for targeted sanctions against retired Sri Lankan General Kamal Gunaratne, citing his direct involvement in war crimes, torture, and systemic human rights abuses.