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…

UK parliamentarians demand Police Scotland ends training of Sri Lankan officers

Members of British and Scottish parliament, from across the political spectrum, have called on Police Scotland to end its police training program with Sri Lanka and for the British High Commission to heed the "voices of human rights campaigners and those who have either fled from or are still suffering state-driven violence in Sri Lanka".

Even if we die, we will not go to the IMF' claims Sri Lankan minister

Responding to former Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's call for Sri Lanka to seek financial support from the US-backed International Monetary Fund Government Minister  Vasudeva Nanayakkara maintained that he would rather the government be destroyed than turn to the IMF.

Sri Lanka's foreign ministry thanks Bangladesh for support at UN Human Rights Council

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister, G.L. Peiris, met with Bangladesh's Foreign Minister, Dr A.K. Abdul Momen, in Dhaka today and expressed his gratitude to the country for its support at "international fora especially the Human Rights Council and the CMAG (Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group)".

TNPF leader calls out attempt to alter the demography of the Tamil homeland

Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, chief of the Tamil National People’s Front, accused the Sri Lankan government of pursuing a plot to alter the demography of the Tamil homeland by confiscating Tamil lands and redrawing the borders of the North-East.  

Speaking in the parliament during a discussion on the Retirement Age Bill, Ponnambalam said that “Lands belonging to Tamils have been deliberately appropriated from them for generations by the army and the government.”

Sri Lanka closes its only oil refinery amidst  foreign exchange crisis

Sri Lanka's Energy Minister,  Udaya Prabath Gammanpila, has denied concerns that the country will face fuel shortages as he announced that the island's only oil refinery, the Sapugaskanda refinery, would remain closed for 50 days.

Default risk looms: Sri Lanka's finance minister pledges to pay back loans despite dwindling foreign reserves

Sri Lanka's Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa has stated that loan payments in excess of USD $1.5 billion dollars due next year will be paid and that "there is no need to worry", despite low foreign reserves and a slashed credit rating but acknowledged economic turmoil will persist through 2022.

‘We are not protesting for compensation, we are protesting for justice’ - Tamil families of the disappeared react to Sri Lanka's budget

The families of forcibly disappeared Tamils have reacted to the recent announcement that 300 million rupees from Sri Lanka's national budget will be allocated “to do justice” to the families.

Sri Lanka’s Terrorism Division continues to target Kilinochchi council chair

The Sri Lankan Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) summoned Pachchilapalli council chair, Subramaniam Suren for questioning on November 17.

Suren was previously interrogated in August along with several other Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Pradeshiya Sabha members in Kilinochchi and Colombo. 

Mullaitivu locals protest rising prices of essential goods

Mullaitivu locals joined staged demonstrations across Puthukkudiyiruppu on Saturday against the rising prices of gas, sugar, cement, and fertilizers in the country.

Protesters held posters and chanted slogans demanding the Sri Lankan government, “not steal our money! [...] not hurt the hungry! [...] not sell our country!” as they marched to the Pradeshiya Sabha office pulling an ox cart loaded with empty gas cylinders. 

University of Colombo Teachers reject Rajapaksa’s appointment of a Sinhala Buddhist Monk as Chancellor

In a statement, the University of Colombo’s Science Teachers’ Association (UCSTA) expressed that they are “greatly perturbed by the recent appointment of Ven Muruththettuwe Ananda Thero to the post of the Chancellor of the University of Colombo.”

The UCSTA highlighted that “even though the Chancellor’s role is mostly ceremonial, the person who holds the position ideally should have a track record of flawless professional and personal integrity, whose reputation and credentials will assist the University in furthering its reputation and credibility nationally and internationally,”