.jpeg)
A placard from a protest held in Jaffna earlier this month.
British MP Uma Kumaran has called on Foreign Secretary David Lammy to take urgent action following the discovery of a mass grave in Chemmani, Jaffna, which included the remains of at least three infants.
In a letter sent on 17 June 2025, Kumaran described the find as “a truly shocking reminder of how fresh these atrocities are”, and urged the UK government to provide support for an independent and credible investigation into the site. She referenced a 2024 report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which raised concerns about Sri Lanka’s capacity to carry out exhumations to international standards, and which encouraged Colombo to seek international assistance.
"In light of the UK Government’s support for truth, reconciliation, accountability and justice, I would appreciate it if you could set out any current and planned support from the UK Government to Sri Lanka to tackle this issue," she wrote.
Kumaran, the Member of Parliament for Stratford and Bow, also requested that the Foreign Office prioritise the mass grave issue in “any and all bilateral engagement” with Sri Lanka.
She highlighted the legacy of Labour governments in standing for human rights and accountability, noting that Foreign Secretary Lammy had continued this tradition with sanctions announced earlier this year.
“You are aware how strongly I know, and I feel, the absence of justice for Tamils globally,” Kumaran wrote. “I hope that you will consider my call for perpetrators of war crimes to be referred to the International Criminal Court, as called for by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.”
“We owe it to survivors, to the families still searching for answers, and to the next generation growing up in the shadow of these crimes,” she concluded.
Kumaran also echoed her appeal on social media, stating: “The recent discovery of a mass grave in Chemmani – including the bodies of three babies – is a devastating reminder of the state-sponsored atrocities inflicted on Tamils in Sri Lanka.”
“I’ve written to [David Lammy] urging the UK Government to support alongside international partners full investigation into this appalling atrocity.”
The recent discovery of a mass grave in Chemmani – including the bodies of three babies – is a devastating reminder of the state sponsored atrocities inflicted on Tamils in Sri Lanka.
— Uma Kumaran MP (@Uma_Kumaran) June 18, 2025
I’ve written to @DavidLammy urging the UK Government to support alongside international… pic.twitter.com/iPhQod4s7R
The Chemmani site has long been linked to war crimes committed during the 1990s, when Sri Lankan soldiers were accused of murdering thousands of Tamils and burying them in mass graves. In 1998, one soldier testified to the existence of mass burial sites, including Chemmani, near Jaffna. Yet more than two decades later, the vast majority of these graves have not been excavated, and no one has been held accountable.
The recent uncovering of human remains, including infants, has sparked calls from Tamils for an independent investigation with full international oversight.