Tamil families held a protest in Mullaitivu today, marking nine years of continuous demonstrations as they continue to seek answers about the fate of their forcibly disappeared relatives.
The protest began at Vadduvakal bridge, where thousands of their relatives surrendered to the Sri Lankan military at the end of the armed conflict in May 2009. During the rally, the protesters chanted "the Sri Lankan government has made Tamil women cry on the streets even on International Women's Day!"
On March 8, 2017, Tamil families of the disappeared in Mullaitivu began their protest demanding to know what happened to their relatives who were forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan state and government aligned paramilitary groups during and at the end of the armed conflict.
Today marks 3,287 days since their campaign for justice began but successive Sri Lankan governments have failed to provide them with any answers.
The National People's Power (NPP) government has echoed its predecessors in claiming that domestic mechanisms, such as the Office of Missing Persons (OMP), would provide justice and accountability. Despite their assurances to the international community, Sri Lanka has failed to investigate their disappearances.
Tamil families across the North-East have been calling for an international accountability mechanism to investigate the disappearances of their relatives and the Mullivaikkal genocide as they have lost confidence in domestic mechanisms.