The 12 asylum seekers who fled Sri Lanka and reached the Cocos Islands on Monday were all arrested on arrival at Colombo airport after being deported by Australian authorities on Thursday night. The group, which is believed to include children and an infant as young as one, were handed over to Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department, reported Colombo Page . The Australian government has refused to respond to concerns raised about the forced return, stating "we do not comment on operational matters".
The UNP's State Minister of Child Affairs Vijayakala Maheswaran has pledged to build a memorial hall in Mullivaikkal, despite government opposition to public Tamil remembrance of the war dead. “In remembrance of the 100,00 people who were massacred in the war, a memorial hall will be constructed at Mullivaikal with the support of Northern Provincial Council. I will accomplish this within the next five years.” the Tamil MP for Jaffna said. “Nobody can oppose the construction of the memorial hall in remembrance of our deceased relatives. I do not care, even if I am dismissed.” she added.
A protest held in Amparai earlier today, highlighting ongoing arrests and abductions by the government, was interrupted by a mob led by a Buddhist monk, Ceylonews reports. Protestors urged the government to stop terrorising the North-East with the detentions, urged the release of those arrested and to stop abducting those it wants to detain. The protest, organised by the Association of Families of Disappeared, was making its way towards the Amparai District Secretariat office when a mob led by a local monk stopped and threated the participants. At least one of the men was wearing a t-shirt...
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment has visited an infamous torture site used by the Sri Lankan military, reports The Island . Special Rapporteur Juan Mendez visited Camp Joseph at the Sri Lankan Vanni Security Forces Headquarters during his tour of the island. Last year the International Truth and Justice Project Sri Lanka (ITJP) identified several military officials, with photographs, who were directly involved in rape, torture and abductions in Camp Joseph Camp, and several other sites. See more here. Prior to the...
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) on Thursday praised the Western Provincial Council's adoption of a resolution opposing the Northern Provincial Council's resolution calling for a federal solution and urged other provincial councils to do the same. “We must appreciate the move taken by the WPC members and the Chief Minster for reacting to the NPC resolution. We request members of other provincial councils and Chief Ministers to show their protest on separatist moves by the NPC,” the JHU leader, the Buddhist monk, Omalpe Sobitha was quoted by the Daily Mirror . as saying. He also urged the Sri...
Sri Lanka's most revered Buddhist monks of the Mahanayake chapter on Thursday wrote an impassioned plea to the president, Maithripala Sirisena, urging him to safeguard his predecessor, Mahinda Rajapaksa by maintaining his security. "The terrorists have a grudge against the first citizen of the country, whoever it is, that finished a 30-year-old savage war waged by a group of terrorists in a manner seen nowhere in the world using modern weapons and military power, airplanes, ships, armoured tanks, submarines and suicide bombers. It is accepted by most people that although terrorism was...
Sri Lanka's Sinhala dominated Western Provincial Council on Thursday passed a resolution opposing the previous resolution passed by the Tamil dominated Northern Provincial Council calling for a federal solution to the decades long ethnic conflict. Stating that a federal solution which granted political autonomy to Tamils was "constitutionally and legally incorrect", the Western Province councillor, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe was quoted by the First Post as stating the NPC's resolution was "an attempt to create two separate federal governments in the island based on language and ethnicity". "We...
The presidential commission on missing persons has requested President Sirisena to extend its mandate in order to complete inquiries in the east, after it had finished its investigation in the North last week. The commission was initially due to run until May 15, with the report due to be released in July. Reports of the commission encouraging relatives to accept their loved ones have died have been ongoing, with evidence that officials offered chickens in exchange for accepting a death certificates.
Sri Lanka's State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene said the “President, Prime Minister and the Government will never allow anyone to influence national security or sovereignty of the country,” at a military ceremony on Saturday. The minister added that the Sri Lankan government had “gained the confidence of the international community” and praised called on the attendees to “rise as one”.
A fishing boat carrying refugees fleeing Sri Lanka has been found off the Cocos islands on Monday. The boat, the first to enter Australian waters since last November, is believed to be carrying 12 people. It was intercepted by Australian authorities within 500m of Home island. See here and here .