Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi departed Sri Lanka earlier this month, New Delhi’s media was already hailing the visit as a diplomatic triumph. A raft of development projects had been announced and a significant new defence pact between the two governments signed. Images broadcast showed Modi beside a smiling Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, arms raised aloft in symbolic…

Respect your freedom' Sri Lankan president warns media organisations

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena held a meeting with various media organisations in Colombo on Tuesday, where he warned them that the behaviour of some organisations was "unsatisfactory".

Sri Lanka's TID arrests another returning Tamil

Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) arrested yet another Tamil man who was returning from the Middle East on Tuesday, reports Ceylon News.

Muthulingam Jeyakanthan was returning from Doha last week, after travelling there to seek work in 2013. The father of two from Mullaitivu was arrested on his return to the island shortly after he landed at the Katunayake International Airport on April 12.

His lawyer Dominic Premanand told Ceylon News this was the second such arrest to have taken place in April alone.

Union of Christian Churches criticise military intervention in North

The Union of Christian Churches this week criticised the Sri Lankan military's continued intervention in civilian affairs in the North.

Stating there was an urgent need to remove the military from the region, the churches also condemned illegal fishing by Sinhala fishermen from the South, as well as their attack on Tamil officials.

"We strongly condemn the growing military involvement in civil administration," the churches in Mannar, Vavuniya, Vanni and Vadamadchchi said in a joint statement.

"Reconciliation and justice will truly come to Sri Lanka when everyone can live without fear and with freedom."

Sri Lankan president hopes to meet Obama after invitation to G7 summit

Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena is hoping to secure a meeting with US President Barack Obama at the side lines of the G7 summit in Japan, reports the Sunday Times.

Sri Lanka has been formally invited to the summit, which is set to take place next month, and will see talks between Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the United States, and the European Union.

Wigneswaran discharged from hospital and looks to reschedule meeting on land grabs

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province Justice C V Wigneswaran has been discharged from Jaffna teaching hospital today after being admitted with a brief illness, reports the Sunday Times.

The chief minister was scheduled to meet Sri Lanka’s president and prime minister in Colombo on Monday, to discuss the ongoing occupation of land in the Tamil North-East by Sri Lankan security forces.

Sri Lankan experts slam Mittal houses for North-East

The homes for Tamil IDPs which are due to be built by Indian giant Arcelor Mittal, after a controversial deal with the Sri Lankan government, have come under fire by experts from Moratuwa University.

Engineers Prof. Priyan Dias and Dr Rangika Halwatura and architect Varuna de Silva published a preliminary report of their study, which found that the homes for the Tamil war affected people have inadequate foundations, insufficient roof support, are at risk of corrosion, are poorly ventilated and have no hearth and chimney, The Sunday Times reported.

Meanwhile the TNA has attacked the government over the housing scheme.

Spokesperson M.A. Sumanthiran accused the Ministry of Resettlement of adopting a disorganised approach in selecting the beneficiaries to provide the homes, The Nation reported.

Sri Lanka to meet EU for fishing ban discussions

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Fisheries Aquatic Resources Development retracted an announcement that the EU fishing ban will be lifted, in a statement made on Tuesday.

In a statement issued after the in response to an announcement made by the ministry spokesman WMD Wanninayake, the Ministry said that a high level discussion between government officials and the European Union is scheduled for April 21 to discuss the lifting of the ban.

Persecution of Christians increased under new Sri Lankan govt

The persecution of Christians has increased under the new Sri Lankan government, a human rights lawyer told Christian Today, with over 120 documented cases since the change of government last year compared to 52 under the previous regime.

The cases reportedly include cases of violence and increasingly involve Buddhist monks, said the chief executive of the charity, Release International, Paul Robinson.

"You don't normally associate Buddhism with violence, but time and again we hear that it is Buddhist monks who are leading the attacks against the churches," Mr Robinson said in a statement. 

"And our partners have found the monks are being aided by pro-Buddhist authorities ... This has to be brought into the spotlight."