Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Displaced residents of the Valikamam North region of Jaffna held protests on Monday, in front of the Jaffna District Secretariat and near Palaly Junction, marking 36 years since their forced displacement and demanding the right to return and resettle in their lands. The people of Valikamam North were displaced from their homeland on 15 June 1990 by the Sri Lankan military. Thirty-six years on…

Montreal borough passes motion recognising Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day

Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, a borough in Montreal, has passed a motion recognising May 18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. 

The motion was passed on May 5 and comes as the Tamil nation marks 16 years since the genocide at Mullivaikkal, where an estimated 169,796 people were killed by the Sri Lankan army in the final days of the armed conflict. 

Tamil activist Subitha Tharmakulasagaram said the recognition is "a powerful step toward truth, justice, and accountability."

Sri Lankan police arrest Tamil farmers in Kurunthurmalai

Tamil farmer's land cultivation obstructed and workers arrested in Kurunthurmalai as Buddhist monk and authorities enforce disputed land seizure

Tamil resistance at the polls

Sri Lanka’s recent local government elections illustrated a sharp decline in support for the National People’s Power (NPP), a fall most pronounced in the Tamil North-East. Less than a year since it swept into both presidential and parliamentary power on a platform of anti-corruption and political reform, the coalition now finds itself facing growing disillusionment, especially among the Tamils who had tentatively extended it goodwill last year.

Protest erupts outside Colombo school over suicide of Tamil schoolgirl Amshi

Hundreds of protestors gathered outside Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College in Bambalapitiya this week, demanding justice for 16-year-old Amshi, a Tamil schoolgirl who died by suicide after reportedly enduring prolonged sexual abuse by her Maths teacher.

Sri Lankan prime minister doubles down on support for OMP 

Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya has reiterated her government’s commitment to the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), despite widespread rejection of such domestic mechanisms by victims' families and Tamil civil society.

Sri Lankan military helicopter crash kills six soldiers

At least six Sri Lankan military personnel were killed on Friday after a helicopter assigned to a training exercise crashed into the Maduru Oya reservoir in the Eastern Province.

Sri Lanka claims commitment to repeal PTA in talks with EU 

Sri Lanka claimed it is committed to repealing the controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), during the latest round of human rights discussions with the European Union, a move tied to its continued access to preferential trade benefits under the GSP+ scheme.

Tamil families of the Disappeared mark 3,000 days of protest with renewed call for justice

Marking 3,000 days of protest, families of the disappeared renewed their call for international justice in their ongoing struggle for truth and accountability

Tamil nationalism triumphs over 'Anura Wave' - Sumanthiran

Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) Secretary and President’s Counsel M.A. Sumanthiran has declared that the results of the recently concluded local government elections have dispelled the myth of an "Anura wave" and reaffirmed the enduring strength of Tamil nationalism in the North-East.

TNPF claims mandate for self-governance after Valvettithurai victory

Former Member of Parliament and Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) candidate for the Valvettithurai Urban Council, M.K. Shivajilingam, stated that the people have entrusted them with a mandate to govern themselves.