The Sri Lankan navy has stepped up surveillance across the Northern coast, in response to what authorities have termed the “illegal entry” of Eelam Tamil refugees from India. 

P Charles, Governor of the Northern Province, told The Hindu that “we have received information that some of the refugees are trying to leave India because of the coronavirus situation there”.

The British High Commission in Sri Lanka said a new British sanctions regime was “an important new tool" for "tackling serious human rights violations and defending the rules-based international system”, as more sanctions are expected to be announced in the coming months.

Black Tigers Day events were held across Europe and other countries, last week to mark 33 years since the death of the first Black Tiger, Captain Miller. 

France

Around 50 organisations and individuals based in South Africa, including the South African Tamil Federation (SATF) and the Tamil Federation of Gauteng (TFG) have expressed their support for International Truth and Justice Project's (ITJP) executive director, Yasmin Sooka and expressed their “extreme concern and strenuous condemnation” in light of the defamation case against her, in a statement released last week.

A Black Tigers Day commemoration event was held in Sydney, Australia yesterday.  

Sri Lankan police have received 75.8 million Rs. to remove illegal “election propaganda” ahead of the parliamentary election and the police have hired 1,539 workers to support this effort.

Illegal sand mining has been tearing down trees and causing massive environmental damage around the Per Aru river, said locals in Mullaitivu as they feared the long term consequences of the practice.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, said it was “the responsibility of journalists to make the government aware of the real issues endured by the people of the North,” as he met with Tamil Journalists earlier this week at Temple Trees.

The Uthayan in Jaffna marked 33 years since the first ever assault by the LTTE’s elite Black Tiger unit, with a feature spread in the newspaper on Sunday.

Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) arrested Tamil woman in Kilinochchi, accusing her of involvement with an explosion that occurred earlier in the week and of possessing an allegedly home-made banner to mark Black Tigers Day.

UK Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said the UK have "noted with concern the rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in Sri Lanka" following the outbreak of COVID-19, in response to a question on Sri Lanka last week. 

Over 60 human rights organisations and 180 individuals have signed a letter in support of International Truth and Justice Project's (ITJP) Executive Director, Yasmin Sooka, who is facing threats from the Sri Lankan government. 

Last month, Sri Lanka's State Intelligence Services (SIS) Major General Suresh Sallay, who stands accused of human rights abuses, filed a formal complaint with the United Nations and the European Union, claiming that Ms Sooka had made "defamatory remarks" in a press release outlining his role in detaining a Tamil doctor. 

On July 5, Eelam Tamils across the world remember and mourn the sacrifices made by the LTTE's elite women and men, the Black Tigers. “Karumpuli Naal” marks the sacrifice made by the first Black Tiger, Captain Miller, or Vallipuram Vasanthan, 33 years ago.