Tamil youths in Kilinochchi led commemorations of the victims of the massacres at Mullivaikkal on May 18, Tamil Genocide Day.
The youths local to the area of Union Kulam set up a makeshift memorial stand, with red and yellow bunting, and laid flowers and lit candles in memory of the victims of the genocide
Vigils were held in Mannar to mark Tamil Genocide Day and to remember the victims of the massacres at Mullivaikkal.
The civil society group Thamil Thesiya Vaazhvurimai Iyakkam held a memorial service at its premises, attended by the organisation's members and locals.
British politicians from across the political spectrum marked the 12th anniversary since the massacres at Mullivaikkal earlier today, with remarks from the UK foreign secretary and the Labour party leader Keir Starmer calling for sanctions on Sri Lankan officials accused of war crimes.
A group of lawmakers from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) marked Tamil Genocide Day at the Sri Lankan parliament complex in Kotte this morning, before a parliamentary session was due to take place.
The Tamil Youth Organisation (TYO) -UK and 24 Tamil university societies call on the UK government to recognise the Tamil genocide and refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a joint statement, marking the 12th anniversary of the Mullivaikkal genocide, they said:
Students at the University of Jaffna bypassed a heavy army and police presence around the campus to light a flame at the Mullivaikkal monument and mark Tamil Genocide Day today.
As Tamil people, politicians and civil society remember and pay tribute to the victims of the Mullivaikkal massacre on its twelfth anniversary, local Tamil governments including divisional secretariats and municipal councils also hold vigils in memory of the massacre.
Marking the 12th anniversary since the massacres in Mullivaikkal, Canadian politicians across all spectrums remember the Tamil genocide with remarks from Prime minister Justin Trudeau and New Democratic Party leader, Jagmeet Singh, with further statements coming from leading MP's and MPP.
Vigils and memorials to the tens of thousands massacred by the Sri Lankan state at Mullivaikkal have taken place across the Tamil homeland, despite an onslaught by the Sri Lankan state in recent days to prevent commemorations.
Civil society leader Velan Swamigal led a vigil on Mullivaikkal beach to mark Tamil Genocide Day, in defiance of crackdowns by the Sri Lankan state, including the lockdown of the areas surrounding Mullivaikkal in Mullaitivu.
Commemorating 12 years since the genocidal massacre at Mullivaikkal, People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) has issued a statement remembering the approximately 40,000 to 169,796 Tamils slaughtered and noting that despite the passage of time, Sri Lanka has failed to take “any genuine steps towards accountability and justice”.
Marking 12 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Day’. The total number of Tamil civilians killed during the final months is widely contested.
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