Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence has declared that all marriages between Sri Lankan citizens and foreigners will now require military approval, sparking fears across the more than million-strong Tamil diaspora over its ties to the homeland.

The new law, which came into effect from January 1, 2022, requires all foreign nationals who are seeking to marry Sri Lankan citizens to obtain a “Security Clearance Report”.  An in-depth health declaration must also be submitted to the military, with details ranging from HIV status to any history of kidney disease.

The Sri Lankan military insists that the new measures are for “national security” purposes.

Marking a major diplomatic visit to Sri Lanka, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced the country’s largest road construction project whilst turning a blind eye to Sri Lanka’s deteriorating human rights record.

Without warning, Facebook has deleted the verified account of prominent Tamil Nadu activist, and founder of the May 17 movement, Thirumurugan Gandhi.

Responding to the removal of his account Gandhi noted that his account had already been deleted three times and called for the democratic forces “to condemn the pro-Hindu Facebook organisation that runs without democracy”.

China has lifted the ban on the People's Bank in Sri Lanka following its payment of almost US$6.9 million over a dispute involving imported organic fertiliser. 

The Economic and Commerical Office of the Chinese embassy in Colombo lifted the ban implemented last October following the payment of the requested sum by the Chinese company Seawin Biotech Group. 

The payment comes as a diplomatic spat between the two countries grew, after the Sri Lankan government refused to pay for a shipment of 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser.

Sajith Premadasa, the leader of the opposition and head of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party, paid a visit to Jaffna on Tuesday. 

During his visit, he attended special prayers in the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple, a site of great cultural significance for Tamils. 

Protests have been planned in Jaffna after widespread outrage over the killing of a prominent Tamil protestor by the Sri Lankan navy yesterday.

Local Tamil fishermen said that 31-year-old Edward Mariyaseelan was killed at sea on Tuesday, when his fishing boat was rammed by a Sri Lankan navy vessel.

Sri Lankan authorities claimed that a woman who died under police custody committed “suicide” after jumping off the 5^th floor of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) headquarters in Colombo.

The 46-year-old woman had reportedly been detained over fraud allegations.

The CID headquarters, and especially its ‘4th floor’, is notorious for the torture of detainees.

As tennis player Novak Djokovic left an Australian hotel where he was being detained by immigration authorities this week, asylum seekers have hoped the incident, which has received international attention, will shed light on the conditions and system in which they remain trapped.

“I couldn’t believe that Djokovic is here,” said 24-year-old Adnan Choopani told NBC news this week, from the same detention hotel in which the tennis superstar was being held. “I hope he shares what he’s seen.” Choopani, who fled Iran, is one of the many asylum seekers at the hotel, where conditions have been labelled “disgusting”.

Standard and Poor’s has hit Colombo with yet another credit rating downgrade, from ‘CCC+’ to ‘CCC’, stating that Sri Lanka’s “external position continues to weaken owing to elevated external obligations and uneven access to financing”.

The latest downgrade comes in the midst of a financial crisis on the island, which has seen foreign reserves drop and the cost of basic goods skyrocket.

“Foreign exchange resources will be further pressured over the coming quarters by additional external sovereign debt maturities and current account requirements,” the S&P said.

A Sri Lankan court has ordered the release of 5 Tamils who had been detained under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act since 2019.

The Colombo Magistrate's Court ordered that the 5 Tamils, who had been detained in Magazine prison on the southern capital, were to be freed.

The five were from Pallai, Kilinochchi and Jaffna and had been in detention since 2019.

However, many more Tamil political prisoners remain detained in Sri Lanka jails. Many of them continue to be held without charge.