Hundreds of Tamil pre-schools in the North-East continue to remain under the administration of Sri Lanka's Civil Security Department, despite pledges to reduce the military presence in the Tamil homeland.
 
Approximately 270 pre-schools in the Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi districts remain under the Civil Security Department, which also provides 512 pre-school teachers. A total of 9422 children are reported to be studying in those pre-schools in both districts.

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström met with Tamil civil society activists in Jaffna on Tuesday, as part of her visit to the North-East.

Accompanied by Harald Sanberg, Sweden's Ambassador to India, Ms Wallström visited Kopay in Jaffna to inspect houses that have been built as part of the Sri Lankan government’s much criticised housing project.

Tamil activists also called on the foreign minister, who previously held the post of Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) on Sexual Violence in Conflict, to help alleviate problems faced by Tamil female headed households in the North-East.

The leader of ITAK's youth wing, Subramaniyam Sivakaran was arrested on Wednesday morning by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID).

Mr Sivakaran, who is also the editor of a Tamil newspaper called Puthiyavan, was detained at the paper's offices in Mannar and taken to Vavuniya.

The activist, in a recent interview to TamilNet, had condemned the recent arrests and abductions by the TID and compared the Sirisena-regime to that of Mahinda Rajapaksa for its deployment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The recent NPC resolution calling for a re-merger of the Northern and Eastern provinces in a federal setup should be discussed in parliament, the Tamil National Alliance spokesperson MA Sumanthiran told the Island.

The Frontline Socialist Party has warned Tamils that they should not harbour hopes for a federal setup in the North East.

Propaganda Secretary Pubudu Jagoda said at a press conference that the TNA was fishing in "troubled waters".

"The TNA’s objective is clear. It is using its federalism demand to attract popular support and to swell the number of the supporters. We hope that Tamil people will not fall for such tactics," he said.