Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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Kepapilavu residents commence hunger strike as Sri Lankan military films protesters
Residents of Kepapilavu in Mullaitivu District launched a hunger strike on Wednesday, demanding the release of 171 acres of ancestral land that remain under the occupation of the Sri Lankan military more than 17 years after the end of the armed conflict. The protest was held outside the Sri Lanka Army's 59 Division headquarters, where demonstrators reiterated their longstanding demand for…

Sri Lanka studies building navy base at Hambantota port

Jul 27, 2015
The Sri Lankan cabinet approved a feasibility study to examine the prospect of building a naval dockyard at the Chinese-built Hambantota port on the south of the island.

Sri Lanka's Minister of Ports Arjuna Ranatunga made the announcement, which will allow him to negotiate with the China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), who initially put forward the proposal for the building and repair of navy ships.

Hambantota Port was built at a cost of $1.5 billion, financed through a loan from EX-IM Bank of China. Work is currently underway on the second phase of development at the port, at a cost of $808 million. It was built by CHEC, who also won a $1.4 billion contract to construct the Colombo ‘Port City’, a project that has been stalled by the current government.

SLMC reiterates desire to re-establish Tamil homeland by re-merging Northern and Eastern provinces

Jul 27, 2015
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress welcomed calls to create a homeland for Tamil speaking people by re-merging the Northern and Eastern province, reports Ceylon Today.

Speaking to press, the SLMC General Secretary Hasan Ali, said,

“We welcome the stance of the Tamil National Alliance in its election manifesto to create a home land of Tamil speaking people, by re-merging the North and East. This decision shouldn’t be mere talk but both Muslim and Tamil leaders should jointly discuss about the stance to win over the demand.”

Reiterating that this had been a continuous stance of the SLMC, Mr Ali added,

Internal UN document details plan for “domestic probe” in Sri Lanka

Jul 27, 2015

An internal UN document, obtained by Channel 4 News, outlines a purely domestic process for accountability and redress for the gross violations of human rights during the armed conflict in Sri Lanka.

The document says the establishment of the mechanism would be overseen by the Sri Lankan government and its foreign ministry, while UN involvement would be limited to support and technical assistance.

The Northern Provincial Council is mentioned as one of the key implementing partners of the project, alongside the Sri Lankan government, however Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran described the document as a “betrayal” of the hopes pinned on the UN process by the war victims and that the plan undermined calls for an international court.

 

The chief minister said the NPC was not consulted in the process and was minded to reject it. He also accused a UN official of attempting to "strong-arm" him to agree to the plan.

Tamils tell Sri Lankan president to return their missing children

Jul 27, 2015
Tamils in the North-East today demanded the Sri Lankan president returned their missing children to them, during a meeting with President Maithripala Sirisena in Jaffna.

Mr Sirisena, who visited Jaffna on Tuesday, met with families of the disappeared at the house of the SLFP regional organiser, Ankajan.

"Our loved ones were taken away by the military and armed men. We don't know if they are alive or not," the families told Mr Sirisena.

Tamils demonstrate against disappearances as Sri Lankan president visits Jaffna

Jul 27, 2015
Photograph Tamil Guardian


Families of the disappeared protested in Nallur on Tuesday, as the Sri Lankan president visited the region, demanding their missing children by returned to them.

Stating that they would not vote for anyone in this election or in any election until their missing loved ones were returned to them or they received news about them, the protesters condemned both the previous government and the present government.

UPFA election manifesto limits political solution to ethnic conflict to 13A

Jul 27, 2015
Sri Lanka’s main opposition party the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA), led by Sri Lanka’s current president Maithripala Sirisena, committed to limiting any political solution from going beyond the widely criticised 13th amendment of the current Sri Lankan constitution.

The UPFA manifesto, released on Tuesday, said,

“We aim to arrive at a solution acceptable to all by strengthening the provincial and local governments by not venturing the 13A,” said the UPFA constitution.

The 13th amendment has been rejected as a starting point for a solution to the ethnic conflict by all Tamil political actors including the Tamil National People’s Front, the Tamil National Alliance and the Chief Minister of the Northern Province.

TNA manifesto calls for constitutional change that accepts Tamil right to self-determination (25 Jul 2015)

‘13A can never be the final solution’ says Chief Minister Wigneswaran (12 March 2015)

TNPF: 13A is not a starting point, interim or final solution (13 Jun 2013)

Google Loon to launch in Sri Lanka

Jul 27, 2015

The Government of Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Google to be the first country to launch the Google Loon project, which will provide high-speed internet services across the island.

A statement by the Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs minister Mangala Samaraweera, said,

UK money transfer company looks to tap into US $7 billion transferred by diaspora to Sri Lanka

Jul 26, 2015

A UK based money transfer company will launch a mobile money transfer process that will allow customers to transfer money to the mobiles of family and friends in Sri Lanka.

The company “WorldRemit” estimated that at least US $ 7 billion was sent back to Sri Lanka in 2014 by its diaspora, reports The Economic Times of India.

White van abductions are returning says TNA

Jul 26, 2015
White van abductions, which became notorious under the former Rajapaksa government, are once again on the rise in Colombo, said the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) spokesperson, Suresh Premachandran.

Speaking to journalists at the Jaffna Press Club on Monday, Mr Premachandran said that "many hundreds of Tamil youths have been abducted by white vans, and even today there has been no explanation as to where they are. Hundreds of mothers are still striving to search for their children who were abducted by the white vans and wives are searching for their husbands."

Highlighting a recent report that the former defence secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa criticised the presence of a white van by him, arguing it threatened his security, Mr Premachandran said Mr Rajapaksa's statement proved he knew the damage caused by white vans during his own era.

TNA will not accept an internal investigation reiterates spokesperson

Jul 26, 2015
The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will not accept an internal inquiry following the publishing of the upcoming UN report examining mass atrocities in Sri Lanka, said the party spokesperson, Suresh Premachandran at a press briefing on Monday.

Speaking at the Jaffna Press Club (JPC), Mr Premachandran responded to the current government's statements on the issue.

"They said that once the UN report is released, we will give our response after reading that, or we will arrange to have an internal investigation. We [TNA] want to say something very clearly. The UN report must be released [and] we expect it to be released in September."

"We expect that the UN report following the investigation, will include many issues such as who is responsible for war crimes, what were the reasons for this, issues relating to human rights violations."

SLMC reiterates desire to re-establish Tamil homeland by re-merging Northern and Eastern provinces
Internal UN document details plan for “domestic probe” in Sri Lanka
Tamils tell Sri Lankan president to return their missing children
Tamils demonstrate against disappearances as Sri Lankan president visits Jaffna
UPFA election manifesto limits political solution to ethnic conflict to 13A
Google Loon to launch in Sri Lanka
UK money transfer company looks to tap into US $7 billion transferred by diaspora to Sri Lanka
White van abductions are returning says TNA
TNA will not accept an internal investigation reiterates spokesperson
Sri Lankan MP says TNA manifesto threatens country's sovereignty
SLMC reiterates desire to re-establish Tamil homeland by re-merging Northern and Eastern provinces
Internal UN document details plan for “domestic probe” in Sri Lanka
Tamils tell Sri Lankan president to return their missing children
Tamils demonstrate against disappearances as Sri Lankan president visits Jaffna
UPFA election manifesto limits political solution to ethnic conflict to 13A
Google Loon to launch in Sri Lanka
UK money transfer company looks to tap into US $7 billion transferred by diaspora to Sri Lanka
White van abductions are returning says TNA
TNA will not accept an internal investigation reiterates spokesperson
Sri Lankan MP says TNA manifesto threatens country's sovereignty