Sri Lanka's new government introduced this week a special loan scheme for disabled Sri Lankan soldiers via state owned banks. The 'Viru Daru' scheme, which was presented to parliament on Thursday, has a budget of upto Rs. 500,000, the state news agency reported. The Sri Lankan military, which stands accused of carrying out mass atrocities against the Tamil people during the final stages of the armed conflict in 2009, as well as ongoing human rights violations of murder, rape, and torture of Tamils, consists almost entirely of Sinhala personnel.
The Sri Lankan military, under the directions of Major General Jagath Dias, recruited 34 Tamil youths from Mullaitivu as tradesmen this month, the military said. The training, which will be in Tamil and Sinhala, will last 16 weeks, following which the recruits will be placed to serve as mechanics, electricians, welders, plumbers and masons to the army. The military's hold on employment and economy in the Tamil areas has been heavily criticised. This week, the Northern Province's chief minister, C V Wigneswaran, said the militarisation of the Tamil areas was the most important issue facing the Tamil people.
British Prime Minister David Cameron reiterated his call for Sri Lanka’s new government to address matters of international concern and hold perpetrators of abuses of international law to account for their actions. Wishing the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils his best wishes at their annual dinner on Thursday evening, the British prime minister said that he has “long believed that establishing the truth is a crucial step to help families understand what happened to their loved ones, and help heal the scars of war.” Stating that he was “incredibly proud of the instrumental role [Britain] played in delivering the March 2014 UN Human Rights Council resolution that mandated” an international investigation into mass atrocities, Mr Cameron added that there was still more to be done in Sri Lanka. “The OISL investigation in itself is not reconciliation or accountability,” said Mr Cameron. “It is important that the report is considered by the new Sri Lankan Government as they seek to reconcile and hold perpetrators to account for their actions.”
The leader of the UK Labour Party Ed Miliband repeated his call for an independent international investigation into mass atrocities, stating it would be the first step towards satisfying Tamil grievances around the world. In a video message to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils annual dinner, Mr Milband called on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena to “fully cooperate with the ongoing investigation” being carried out by the UN Office of the High Commission for Human Rights. “I am very clear,” said the UK opposition leader. “Only a full and transparent independent international investigation into allegations of war crimes can be the first step towards satisfying and allaying the deep hurt and grievances of Tamils in Britain and around the world.”
Photos: Battinews Protestors in Batticaloa demanded to know the whereabouts of people who were disappeared from 1958 to more recent times, urging the new government to provide answers, Battinews reported. Relatives of the disappeared were joined at the Gandhi Square by TNA MPs P Ariyenenthiran and Pon Selvarasa, who were given a petition by the protestors, calling on President Maithripala Sirisena to take action.
The TNA spokesperson Suresh Premachandran charged that the new government, under President Maithripala Sirisena, has ignored Tamil concerns in the latest interim budget, saying it was a continuation of the policy of every previous government, reported the Uthayan . The MP said the budget was populist and designed to address immediate concerns, with a view on the parliamentary election, to be held some time later this year. "Gas, petrol prices have been reduced, therefore this is a budget to make the ordinary people happy. However, I represent Tamil people’s concerns and thousands of Tamil...
Hugo Swire with members of the Jaffna Press Club Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister Hugo Swire, visiting Sri Lanka this week, said that the people of Jaffna still “face many challenges”, following meetings with Northern Province Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran and journalists from the Jaffna Press Club today. Commenting on his visit Mr Swire stated he was “pleased to have visited Jaffna”, adding, “Northern Sri Lanka suffered much throughout the country’s long conflict and the people there still face many challenges. This was part of the reason why Prime Minister David Cameron also prioritised visiting Jaffna when he was in Sri Lanka for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2013.”
Sri Lanka's new government said it was thinking of launching its own local inquiry as an answer to allegations of mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people during the final stages of the armed conflict, currently under investigation by the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. “We are thinking of having our own inquiry acceptable to them to the international standards,” the government's spokesperson, Rajitha Seneviratne told press in Colombo on Wednesday. “It will be a new local inquiry. If we need, we will bring some foreign experts.” The decision to hold an yet another internal inquiry remains controversial however, with the UK and Canadian governments urging the new president, Maithripala Sirisena, to cooperate with the UN inquiry already underway, and Tamils in the North-East and diaspora, calling for an international process in order to ensure the necessary independence and credibility.
The removal of the Sri Lankan military from the Tamil areas is the most important issue at present, the chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran told the UK's Minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hugo Swire during a visit to Jaffna on Thursday. Speaking to reporters afterwards about his meeting with Mr Swire, Mr Wigneswaran said he had also warned of the change in the ethnic demography of the Tamil areas due to state sponsored resettlement of Sinhala people. Asked by the visiting UK delegation what change the Northern Province had experienced since the new government, Mr Wigneswaran said: "I told them the new government appears to be giving us some benefits [such as] the changing of the governor [to the province] from a military person to a civilian. "However, these are very small issues," he added. "If we look at big issues, removing the military is an important."
The chief minister of the Northern Province, C V Wigneswaran said confusion remained about whether the land belonging to Tamils in the North would be returned to its rightful owners, despite an announcement on Thursday by Sri Lanka's new government that it would give back the lands. Mr Wigneswaran who met with the UK minister for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Hugo Swire today in Jaffna, said that the visiting UK delegation had asked about the government's announcement. "I replied, it has been announced, however, the prime minister has already said that they will not reduce the number of military camps. Therefore this creates some confusion," Mr Wigneswaran told reporters after the meeting with Mr Swire.