The head of the Buddhist organisation Bodu Bala Sena (BBS), which has been linked ot recent anti-Muslim riots, will travel to Australia in August, reports Colombo Page . Galagodaathethe Gnanasara Thero, will participate in religious functions in Austrailia. The announcement of the monks visit comes after his visa to the US was suspended and visa application to France was rejected. US revokes Gnanasara visa - BBS (30 June 2014)
The former commander of the Sri Lankan security forces in Jaffna has been reappointed as the governor of the Northern Province, a civilian position, by President Mahinda Rajapkasa. Major General GA Chandrasiri was sworn in for another 5 years by the president at Temple Trees on Friday, reported Ceylon Today . One of the key demands of the TNA upon their election to the Northern Provincial Council last year was the removal of Chandrasiri, complaining of military interference and arguing that the position should be taken up by a civilian governor. NPC faces obstacles - C.V. Wigneswaran (25...
A MP of the ruling coalition Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) said today that fruitful discussions with the opposition party took place today. The Buddhist monk Pathuraliye Rathana Thero, who leads the Buddhist Pivithuru Hetak National Movement of Sri Lanka whilst being a JHU MP, said that discussions were aimed at bringing the country into the right path, reports Colombo Page . The monk met with the leader of the opposition Ranil Wickremasinghe and other UNP MPs.
A new report has revealed the extent of British support for Sri Lanka and training of the Sri Lankan military over three decades. The report, authored by Phil Miller, a researcher with Corporate Watch, details the closeness of the British government’s relationship with the Sri Lankan state, including the deployment of mercenaries, training by British officers of Sri Lankan forces and the supply of weapons throughout the conflict with the Tamils. Miller’s report shows how “British collusion with Sri Lankan security forces throughout the thirty years of genocidal counter-insurgency warfare” resulted in “Sri Lanka’s brazen mass killings of Tamils on the beaches of Mullivaikal in 2009.”
Prime Minister DM Jayaratna told Sri Lanka’s parliament on Friday that some non-governmental organisations armed and assisted the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Jayaratna was commenting on the controversy over the Ministry of Defence letter, restricting NGO activities, and insisted that the government was not violating human rights by imposing the restrictions. The prime minister claimed that the country’s intelligence services had uncovered evidence that NGOs were threatening national security through their actions. “During the 30 year war some NGOs even armed the terrorists,” he said.
The surveying of lands owned by Tamils in the North-East to be handed over to the Sri Lankan navy, was stopped on Friday after several land owners and activists confronted the surveyors reports the Uthayan . A case disputing the impending Sri Lankan Navy appropriation of over 183 acres of land in Vali North remains unsettled in court. TNA MPs M Senanthiraja and E Saravanabhavan, TNPF Secretary K Gajenthiran, and Northern Provincial Councillors A Sasitharan and P Gajatheepan confronted the land surveyors on their pre-emptive actions, who were eventually forced to halt their work and retracted...
The Australian immigration minister Scott Morrison snubbed Tamil politicians and civil society during a visit to Jaffna last night, meeting instead with the retired Sri Lankan army general and Colombo appointed governor, G.A. Chandrasiri. According to The Australian , the Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran said he "knew nothing of the Immigration Minister's visit". During a historic visit November last year, the British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Mr Wigneswaran at the Jaffna library, alongside Tamil war widows and long-term IDPs. "I came to know that he with...
The Sri Lankan government has announced that it will enact new laws, requiring all non-profit organisations to register as a non-governmental organisation with the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development, with plans to impose sanctions on those that fail to comply. The director of the National Secretariat for NGOs Saman Dissanayake said to Ceylon Today that according to the new legislation, organisations that do not register with the defence ministry will not be allowed to receive foreign funds and will have their bank accounts closed. The ministry said that non-profit organisations, currently registered under the Sri Lanka Companies Act No. 7 of 2007, are acting like NGOs.
The Australian government has funded a project to introduce biometric passports in Sri Lanka, in line with efforts by both countries to tackle the flow of refugees. Australia has provided Rs500mn (£2.3mn) for the project, with Sri Lanka contributing another Rs50mn (£230,000). The project, spearheaded by the International Organisation for Migration, will introduce Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and digital pantographs in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards, reported The Island. "The government is under pressure to enhance security...
The commander of the Sri Lankan Navy, Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera has praised Australia’s “Operation Sovereign Border” policy, turning back boats with asylum seekers. Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the chief prelates of the Buddhist clergy, Perera said that the people in the boats were “merely economic migrants”. “Sri Lanka has developed, even the Prime Minister of Australia stated this recently. That is why 41 people who travelled there were returned to the country. They believe that Sri Lanka is secure. They understand that there is no longer a reason for people to leave the...