A Tamil family who were removed from an asylum centre in Perth, Australia will not be sent to a government detention centre in Nauru, announced Australian authorities. The Tamil couple and six month old baby girl were being held at Darwin, from where they were to be sent to Nauru detention centre, where they were originally being held. The young couple were moved to Perth for the woman to give birth. Following the birth of their daughter, the whole family were to be sent to Nauru detention centre. Their removal from Perth sparked protests, as activists blockaded the driveway of the Perth centre where they were being held. Since then, the Australian government has announced that 31 babies, including the girl born in Perth, and their families would not be sent back to Nauru.
The National Bhikku Front, an organisation of Buddhist monks, has called on members of the security forces to vote for the common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena. The ultra-nationalist organisation reassured the military that Sirisena would never conduct an internal or international investigation into war crimes, as he said in his manifesto, which proved that soldiers were safe.
The Bollywood actor Salman Khan and Sri Lankan actress Jacqueline Fernandez are currently in Colombo campaigning for Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, reports the Indian Express . The two actors, who were invited by Rajapaksa's son Namal, were seen campaigning with Mahinda Rajapaksa, and are set to appear on stage with the Sri Lankan President, with a host of other Bollywood actors. This is the first time that a Bollywood actor will be campaigning for a Sri Lankan leader. Speaking to DailyMirror.lk , Salman Kahn said that "the president is an amazing man and he is one of the most...
An office of the opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena was attacked on by unidentified assailants on Sunday night, according to the DailyMirror . The office in Mahiyangayana, in Uva Province, was attacked by 15 men, who shot at the building and damaged vehicles. Former army officer Col Chandrasena, his son and his nephew were at the office and assaulted by the men. Sarath Fonseka, the former army general, visited Chandrasena in Mahiyangayana Hospital.
The Sri Lankan navy arrested 8 fishermen from Tamil Nadu this weekend accusing them of fishing in Sri Lankan waters. The fishermen were taken to Thalaimannar along with their boat, according to Assistant Director of Fisheries Department, P Ravindran and Rameswaram Fishermen Organisation President, S Emerit.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa has warned against the threat posed by social media site Facebook, used by those who are pushing for a change of government in Sri Lanka. Speaking at a rally in Hanwella, Rajapaksa said the country’s youth was being drawn to believe the propaganda distributed on Facebook, reported Colombo Gazette , adding that some people claimed he would face the same fate as Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. The president said that as long as he has the support of the Sri Lankan public, no one will be able to harm him and that he used the powers of the executive presidency to end the war, as the people desired. Rajapaksa also said he would not remove the High Security Zones, nor would he reduce the military presence in the north, as he will not compromise national security and allow the country to be divided.
The Sri Lankan military is interfering with the functioning of schools in the North says the president of the Ceylon Teachers' Union. The head of the organisation, Joseph Stalin, said that more than 69 schools under the Palaly Teachers Training College division remain shut down and occupied by the military. "The interference of the security forces has caused great setbacks in the education of the Jaffna Peninsula," said Stalin, speaking at the centenary celebrations of the Ceylon Teachers' Union, held at the Jaffna Weerasingham Hall recently. Stalin went on to stress the support his...
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) on Sunday announced that the party will support the common opposition candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. The SLMC leader, and government’s former justice minister, Rauf Hakeem, announced the decision after sending his resignation to Mahinda Rajapaksa. Addressing media, Hakeem said that the SLMC had taken the decision after several rounds of discussions with the government and the opposition candidate. Though the SLMC had no issues with Rajapaksa serving a third term in office, the decision to support the opposition was made on the basis of...
The Sri Lankan government has stated it fears the latest defection from the ruling alliance by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) is part of an international conspiracy to divide the country. The ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) General Secretary Susil Premajayantha stated that in negotiations the SLMC had demanded a separate Muslim administrative district. "The UPFA Government cannot agree to create a separate administrative district based on ethnicity,” said Premajayantha. “That goes against the government policy." The SLMC, a former party in the ruling coalition, announced...
Aalen, Germany Tamils in Germany held remembrance events on Friday in memory of victims of the tsunami that hit the North-East of the island of Sri Lanka, and across South Asia, 10 years ago. Events took place in Berlin, Aalen, and Essen where Tamils gathered by the newly erected Mullivaikkal memorial.