Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, met with Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, in Islamabad this week on the sidelines of the 5th Sri Lanka-Pakistan Bilateral Defence Dialogue, the Sri Lankan government announced. The meeting took place on Tuesday 29 April, the second day of the three-day dialogue, which aims to enhance defence cooperation…

Scottish woman raped at SL hotel wins lawsuit against tour operator 

A Glasgow woman who was raped and assaulted by a hotel worker at a Sri Lankan hotel, Club Bentota Hotel, in 2010 has won a lawsuit against the tour operator, Kuoni. The judgement was handed down at the UK Supreme Court, 11 years after the lawsuit was filed. Kuoni was ordered to pay the compensation. 

The woman was attacked by the on-duty hotel employee who lured her into an engineering room after telling her he would show her the back of the reception area at the resort. 

Following severe shortages, Sri Lankan prisoners are to cultivate fertilisers

Sri Lankan prisoners are to be enrolled in a new government scheme aimed at cultivating fertilisers following severe shortages caused by Sri Lanka's import ban on chemical fertilisers this year.

Jaffna University lecturer finally released a year after acquittal

The Vavuniya High Court acquitted and released Jaffna University Fine Arts lecturer and former LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) member, Kanesasundaram Kannadasan, on Thursday, 30 July, over a year after his life sentence was overturned. 

Stop the deportation of Sasi K - German Tamils mobilise against deportation of Eelam Tamil refugee

People ‘s Council of Eelam Tamils (VETD) has urged the German government to immediately stop the deportation of a Tamil torture survivor and asylum-seeker, Sasi K.

Sasi K. moved to Germany in 2015 and was taken into an immigration detention in Büren last Friday. His deportation is set to take place on Tuesday 3 August at 4.50 p.m at Frankfurt airport.

14th year commemoration of budding Tamil journalist, Nilakshan

The 14th anniversary event of Sahathevan Nilakshan, a 22-year-old budding Tamil journalist who was shot and killed by suspected Sri Lankan military intelligence personnel on 1 August 2007, took place at Jaffna Press Club on Sunday.

Wreaths were laid and candles were lit in front of Nilakshan’s photo during the commemorative event. 

Sajith Premadasa calls for capital punishment for terrorists and drug traffickers

Sri Lankan opposition leader, Sajith Premadasa, announced his interest in reintroducing the death penalty for terrorists and drug traffickers at a meeting with reporters outside the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Colombo on Wednesday.

Families of disappeared protest across North-East for international justice

Tamil families of the disappeared held demonstrations across the North-East on Friday, calling for the international community and United Nations to step in to find their disappeared relatives.

Families in Jaffna, Batticaloa, Mullaitivu, Mannar and Vavuniya protested, emphasising their years-long struggles for justice and answers.

Sri Lankan government complains to Nike over customised Tamil Eelam trainers

The Sri Lankan government has released a statement, revealing that it had complained to American sportswear corporation Nike, after a video clip of a pair of customised trainers drew the ire of officials in Colombo.

“Video of Counterfeit “NIKE” shoes with LTTE insignia circulating on social media,” said the statement from Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry.

Tamil man submits complaint to Human Rights Commission following attack by Kopay police officers

A young Tamil man who was assaulted and threatened with weapons by drunk off-duty police officers in Kopay, submitted a complaint to Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka in Jaffna on Friday 30th July.

British Foreign Office maintains silence when asked to sanction Shavendra Silva

Despite persistent questioning on whether the British government would impose sanctions on Shavendra Silva, and other Sri Lankan officials accused of grievous human rights abuses, Minister for Asia at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Development, Nigel Adams maintained silence.