Local Tamils, students and members of the University community attended an event at the Law Faculty of UCLA to commemorate Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day on May 18. The event titled ‘Reimagining Struggle, Collective Memories of the Tamil Genocide’ combined commemoration, education and discussion. 

An intoxicated Sri Lankan police officer reportedly lost control of the jeep he was driving and rammed into a nursery where nearly Tamil 40 children had been sitting last week. 

Leader of the Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) leader Sajith Premadasa told Tamils in Jaffna that his party was for the implementation of the 13^th Amendment “in full”, as he pledged to devolve powers to the North-East with elections on the horizon.

Speaking in Nallur, Premadasa said he intended to make Jaffna, a ‘paradise of intellectuals.’ He went on to speak of the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, which calls for a degree of power devolution, and said the SJB believes the 13th Amendment should be enacted “in full”.

Tamil lawmaker M A Sumanthiran speaking at the People’s Forum in Jaffna this week told the audience that Eelam Tamils have made their desire to decentralise power clear and that there’s no need to repeat it through an election. 

“A common candidate is not beneficial and can be harmful, especially for the Tamil community. As Tamil leaders, we should not take part in events that destroy our identity,” he said.

A memorial was held to commemorate nine Tamils who were killed by the Indian Peacekeeping Forces (IPKF) in Jaffna in 1989.

Relatives of the massacred laid flowers and lit candles before portraits of them, alongside politicians including former Northern Provincial Council member Ananthi Sasitharan. The nine were killed by Indian troops in Vatharavaththai, in 1989.

A memorial obelisk which was erected to honour the murdered, but it was demolished by the Sri Lankan army in 2012.

The Sri Lankan government reimposed its ban on several Tamil diaspora organisations last week, as well as hundreds of individuals, claiming they are engaging in “terrorism related activities”.

Through an extraordinary gazette notification signed by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, fifteen different organisations and 210 individuals are barred from entering or operating in the country.

Sri Lankan war criminal Shavendra Silva, a man who remains barred from entering the USA due to his role in executing Tamils, has had his term as Chief of Defence Staff renewed by president Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Silva, who is barred from entering the USA “due to credible information of his involvement, through command responsibility, in gross violations of human rights”, was given a service extension for six months until December 31.

Tamil Eelam faced off against Sapmi in a thrilling final which saw the defending champions retain the trophy with a 2-1 win. 

The final was played at the home ground of FK Bodø/Glimt, the Aspmyra Stadium. The city of Bodø was chosen as the city to host the CONIFA WWFC2024. Tamil Eelam were participating in their first CONIFA Women’s World Cup with an energetic team chosen from players across the diaspora. The route to the final had seen the team score 3 goals and had now brought them up against current holders Sapmi. 

Britain’s Metropolitan Police made a significant announcement this week; only the second of its kind. A man accused of committing war crimes in Sri Lanka was arrested in South London. Though this is just a single person being investigated it sends a powerful message to those in Colombo and other human rights abusers around the world, that they cannot escape justice. British authorities must now follow through.

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has issued a rare ruling overturning a former president Maithripala Sirisena’s pardon of Jude Shramantha Jayamaha, over the 2005 Royal Park murder.