Two Tamil refugees were arrested by India’s coast guard on Tuesday, according to police. The youths, form a refugee camp in Trichy, were being monitored by the ‘Q Branch’, a special unit within the Tamil Nadu police force, Outlook reported. Police say they escaped from the camp and were on their way to Sri Lanka when they were detained. Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu are restricted to squalid camps, recently described as "open-air prisons" by Australian commentator Trevor Grant . Tens of thousands of refugees are denied Indian citizenship and are unable to find employment, with many attempting...
Residents in Kilinochchi demanded to be resettled in their original lands, reports Uthayan . Families who had been displaced since 1995, speaking to the Uthayan, said that at least 3000 families in the regions of Vempodukeni, Mukamalai and Ithavil were living as refugees. The resettlement in the mentioned regions has been delayed over the past 5 years due to government claims that explosives may still be present in the unoccupied lands. P See also: Valalai people visit HSZ to find their homes and wells destroyed (15 Mar 2015) Hundreds of Tamil protestors demand resettlement in Sampur (18 Feb...
Three Tamil journalists were harassed and threatened by police officers in Jaffna on Tuesday, after they reported from the protest against oil pollution outside Nallur temple. The Thinakkural’s T Vinojith, T Piratheeban from a Colombo-based radio station and freelance journalist Mayurapriyan were leaving the protest after conducting interviews, when they were stopped behind the temple, by two men wearing jerseys with the Sri Lankan police’s emblem. The officers, who were intoxicated, intercepted the reporters on a red motorbike, registration number NP BAL 2172, and asked for their identity documents. The Tamils questioned the police men under which capacity they were stopped, as they were not in full police uniform, at which point one of the officers pulled a knife and started chasing the journalists.
The Sri Lankan army's renovated a chapel and built a basketball court in Jaffna, reported the army's civil military coordination website.
A freelance Tamil journalist from Jaffna has been detained by a court in Point Pedro on Wednesday, reports the local newspaper, Uthayan . N Logathayalan was called in for an investigation regarding his coverage for the paper of the assault of a school girl by Sri Lankan police officers at Nelliyadi station.
The UN Assistant Secretary General, Haoliang Xu, who is currently on a six day tour of the island, visited Mullaitivu on Wednesday. Mr Xu, who is also the UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director - Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, reviewed the UNDP's projects in the region. "I am here to learn more about emerging development needs and expectations, in this new environment, with the new government in office," Mr Xu was quoted by Xinhua as having said on his arrival.
Photograph:Tamil Guardian Families of the disappeared in Amparai carried out a silent protests against the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons outside the Kalmunai divisional secretariat for two days on Monday and Tuesday.
The killing of 20 men by Indian police in Andhra Pradesh has resulted in widespread condemnation by politicians and human rights groups, with several protests in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, where the majority of victims were from. The men were shot by state police, who suspected them of smuggling sandalwood near the border with Tamil Nadu. The police defended their actions, saying they fought back against attacks with axes sticks and stones. Indian media reported some of the men were shot in the face at close range. "At one of the two sites where bodies were found, seven of the nine dead had been shot in the face or the back of the head," the Indian Express reported, saying many of the victims had unexplained burn injuries. The Andhra Pradesh government denied the men were shot at close range and dismissed allegations the men were executed after capture.
Sri Lankan cricketers will not be featuring in any Indian Premier League (IPL) matches that are to be played in Chennai, reports the Hindu . Chennai's security services told the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) that they would not be able to provide adequate protection for the cricketers if they were to play in Tamil Nadu, given reports of massacres committed by the Sri Lankan state provoking protests in India. A similar situation occurred in 2013, where Sri Lankan players did not feature in matches played in Chennai, a move that was sanctioned by the IPL board.
The Sri Lankan navy pelted Indian fishermen with stones and bottles as they were fishing in the Palk Strait on Monday, reports Business Standard . A group of fishermen from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu were fishing near Katchatheevu in approximately 250 boats, before the Sri Lankan navy approached. The Sri Lankan navy personnel proceeded to threaten the fishermen, hurling stones and bottles at them. There were no reported injuries from the attack.