Sri Lanka has requested China to facilitate a credit line of up to USD $ 1.5 billion and a separate loan of USD $ 1 billion totalling USD $2.5 billion, as the island nation grapples with the worst economic crisis in decades. 

The co-ordinator of the Mullaitivu Disappeared Relatives' Association was admitted to hospital with injuries after the Sri Lankan police pushed back the disappearances campaigner during a protest in Jaffna this week.

In celebration of World Forest Day on March 21 pre-school students from Jaffna’s Vinayagar Gnana Kuzhanthai home received and planted saplings. 

American Tamil groups and advocacy organisations welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s move to recognise the violence perpetrated against the Rohingya people by Myanmar as a genocide and remained hopeful that this may pave the way for greater international accountability for such crimes, including against Tamils.

“The US declaration is an important milestone in protecting the Rohingya from a virulent form of Buddhist ethno-nationalism that has driven the genocide in Myanmar,” said Archana Ravichandradeva, Executive Director at People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL).

“This recognition of genocide sets an important precedent for the international community to reassess other recent atrocities driven by similar forms of ethnonationalism and how genocide recognition can advance meaningful accountability for victim-survivor communities. For example, it is no coincidence that Sri Lanka became the first country to diplomatically recognise Myanmar's junta following the military coup.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) stated it was "deeply disappointed" by the decision to ban Parami Nileptha Ranasinghe from presenting on the state run television network, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC).

Sri Lanka signed a USD $ 1 billion credit line with India last week, for the supply of essential goods to alleviate the shortages of fuel, food and medicine. 

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is currently creating a “centralised repository” of material that could be used to prosecute war crimes suspects, according to a report in the BBC this week.

^{Photo Credit: World Bank} 

Sri Lankan police officers pushed back Tamil families of the disappeared into their bus to block them from attending a rally opposing the Sri Lankan Prime Minister's visit to Jaffna. 

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa dropped his plans to lay a foundation stone for a Buddhist temple today after local Tamils protested his visit amidst heavy police presence. 

Writing in the Bloomberg, Ruth Pollard highlighted that the Rajapaksa regime has "lost control of Sri Lanka’s economy" as the island continues to suffer from an economic crisis "mostly of its own making".

"From an ill-fated fertiliser ban that led to a dramatic fall in yields of crops like rice and tea, to its failure to deal with a foreign-currency crisis that’s now a humanitarian emergency, the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is fast running out of solutions. Relying until now on help from its two major backers — India and China — and stubbornly refusing wider international aid, the country is on the verge of default," Pollard wrote. 

Sri Lankan authorities stormed a Women’s day event that took place at Manipai Fort in Jaffna on 12th March.

The International Women’s day event was hosted by Quotech religious group, on Saturday in the hall by the Aanaikottai Bala Subramaniam Vidyalaya.

The heads of 14 embassies to Sri Lanka have called on the government to call “on Russia to end its hostilities immediately” and join in “vocal support for Ukraine and international law”.