In the early hours of last Thursday, 22 Tamil Nadu fishermen were arrested by Sri Lanka's Navy for allegedly illegally entering Sri Lankan waters and engaging in fishing activities.

A new joint report, 'Mass Graves and Failed Exhumations', details a pattern of systematic failures by Sri Lanka to exhume and investigate mass graves across the island.  

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Nada Al-Nasif stressed in her update on Sri Lanka the importance of accountability and raised concern over the Sri Lanka’s president’s “heavy-handed approach to protests” and proposed replacement to the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The Core Group on Sri Lanka stressed the importance of “building meaningfully on past work and recommendations that address the root causes of conflicts and impunity” in a statement at the 53rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 

Local Tamils are protesting the ongoing illegal construction of a Buddhist temple at Kurunthumalai, an ancient Tamil temple site.

Image courtesy of Tamilwin

Asokakumar Lalitha, an Eelam Tamil refugee who had been seeking asylum status in Indonesia since 2012, passed away on June 19. 

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP Charles Nirmalanathan has alleged that up to 250 acres of land in the Veerapuram area that were supposed to be handed over to Tamil families have been illegally occupied by Sinhala settlers.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called on Sri Lanka to implement the UN's recommendations related to accountability in his statement at the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council. 

He stated that:

British Tamils gathered at One George Street in central London to protest the Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe's visit to London this week. 

At the next board meeting on 28 June, the World Bank will likely approve $700 million in welfare and budgetary support for Sri Lanka.

Fisherfolk in Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, have expressed disappointment after being unable to fetch an adequate price for their catch despite an abundant catch consisting of fish, crab, cuttlefish, and prawns.

A Tamil man in Mullaitivu has filed a complaint with the Vavuniya Human Rights Commission, after he was illegally detained, assaulted and tortured by officials from Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department last week. 

Yesterday, British MPs met with Tamil activists, lawyers, and religious leaders in the parliament to demand that the UK government recognise the genocide perpetrated against Eelam Tamils.

In the town of Pulmoaddai, located in the Trincomalee District, more than 25 soldiers and monks are tirelessly working day and night to construct a new Buddhist vihara. Their objective is to complete the project swiftly, despite accusations of illegal deforestation that preceded it.