Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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  The lawyer representing detained Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar challenged allegations that his client sought to revive the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during proceedings before the Jaffna Magistrate's Court this week, arguing that the material cited by police contains no reference to the organisation or its leadership. Sangeethsan, better known by his stage name…

Tamil diaspora groups urge UN to treat Eelam Tamils’ struggle as unfinished decolonisation

Tamil American organisations have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to recognise the struggle of the Eelam Tamils as an unresolved case of decolonisation, warning that decades of inaction have entrenched impunity for genocide and denied justice to survivors.

Israeli tourist injured in Arugam Bay robbery

An Israeli tourist was injured in Arugam Bay after leaping from a moving tuk-tuk to escape an attempted robbery, in an incident that has again drawn attention to the presence of Israeli tourists on the island.

Expressway to nowhere: $500m yuan loan pushes Sri Lanka further into Chinese debt

Sri Lanka is set to borrow the equivalent of US$500 million in Chinese yuan from the Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) to resume work on the long-delayed Central Expressway (CEP 1).

Sri Lankan Navy handed powers to run controversial maritime security operations

The Sri Lankan government has vested fresh powers in the navy to run a maritime security operation project, reviving a role once mired in controversy and corruption under Avant Garde Maritime Services (Pvt).

US State Department highlights entrenched impunity, repression and rights abuses in Sri Lanka

The United States State Department’s 2024 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Sri Lanka has detailed a litany of human rights violations – from extrajudicial killings and torture to press suppression and prolonged detention – underscoring that the government has taken “minimal steps to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses.”

Ongoing intimidation and repression 

Convicted Sri Lankan soldier reveals more mass graves and political cover ups

Somaratne Rajapakse, the Sri Lankan soldier convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of Tamil schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, has revealed further details of mass graves in Jaffna, implicating senior politicians and the army in a systematic cover-up.

Mannar environmental protection protest enters 17th day

Mannar protest against wind towers and sand mining enters 17th day

'Chemmani mass graves demand justice' - British Tamils petitions UK Prime Minister

The Movement for Self-Determination of Tamil Eelam (MSDTE) has submitted a petition to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urging the United Kingdom to pass a parliamentary resolution recognising the crimes committed in Chemmani and referring Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

‘Camps in every corner’ - Vavuniya Mayor slams Sri Lankan military occupation

The Mayor of Vavuniya Municipal Council, S. Kandipan, has strongly condemned the suffocating militarisation of the Tamil homeland, declaring that while “camps can be seen in almost every corner of the North,” the South of the island remains entirely free of such entrenched occupation.

Tamil journalist grilled for nearly 7 hours by Sri Lanka’s Counter Terrorism police

Tamil journalist, Kanapathipillai Kumanan, was subjected to an almost seven-hour interrogation by Sri Lanka’s Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division (CTID) on Sunday, in what press freedom advocates have denounced as part of a continuing campaign of harassment against Tamil media workers.