A group of 31 Rohingya refugees who had been sheltering at a UN safe house, were yesterday transferred to Boosa detention facility by Sri Lankan police, who claimed it was for their safety. The refugees were detained by police after a mob led by Sinhala Buddhist monks stormed the building, which is located in Mount Lavinia. According to AFP, the mob "broke down gates and entered the walled multi-storied compound as frightened refugees huddled together in upstairs rooms". See more here . Sinhala Buddhist monks have demonstrated over recent weeks in support of their Myanmar counterparts,...
The former head of the Sri Lankan army said visa applications to travel to the United States have been rejected three times over reports of war crimes committed by the military. Speaking to the Daily Mirror Sarath Fonseka denied being dropped from a Sri Lankan delegation visiting New York for the UN General Assembly, and instead said visa issues prevented him from travelling. “I could’ t go to the US because my visa was rejected,” he said. “This was the third time that my US visa got rejected this year. I was not granted Visa to attend my daughter’s graduation as well.” “My green card was...
The United States Embassy hosted a workshop on psychological operations for the Sri Lankan military in Kilinochchi earlier this month.
Thileepan was remembered in Kilinochchi on Tuesday, on the 30th anniversary of the final day of his fast.
Hundreds of students and staff at the University of Jaffna gathered to remember Thileepan, marking thirty years since his death.
Thileepan was remembered in Mannar on Tuesday on the 30th anniversary of his death.
The Sri Lankan government is looking to sign extradition treaties with several countries including those in Europe and Asia, the State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardena said, reported Colombo Gazette . Treaties have already been signed between Sri Lanka and Ukraine, China and Vietnam. "The extradition treaties will help Sri Lanka and foreign countries exchange wanted criminals," Mr Wijewardena was quoted as saying.
Thirty-one Rohingya refugees who were inside a UN safe house run by the UNHCR near Sri Lanka's capital city were taken into police custody, after a mob led by Sinhala Buddhist monks stormed the building on Tuesday. According to AFP , the mob "broke down gates and entered the walled multi-storied compound as frightened refugees huddled together in upstairs rooms". "We have pushed back the mob and the refugees will be relocated in a safer place," a police official was quoted by the news wire as saying. One of the monks who led the mob posted on his social media page, "these are Rohingya...
The general secretary of the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Vaiko said he was on Monday accosted by a Sri Lankan woman and former army personnel after concluding his address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. “After I completed my speech, a woman approached me and questioned my right to speak against Sri Lanka when I was not a citizen of the country," he told The Hindu by telephone. "I told her that I was from Tamil Nadu, and we had an ‘umbilical cord relationship’ with Sri Lankan Tamils. A few former army personnel surrounded me and accused me of supporting LTTE,...
Tamils gathered in Nallur today to remember the 30th anniversary of the final day of Thileepan's fast unto death. Lt. Col. Thileepan, a political wing leader of the LTTE fasted to death on hunger strike, appealing to the Indian government to honour pledges made to the Tamil people. He began his fast on 15th September 1987 and died on the 26th. Commemorative events began at the site of Thileepan's protest at the Nallur temple before moving to his memorial monument. MPs and politicians from the Tamil National Alliance and the Tamil National People's Front were present to remember him. Find our...