Malaysian police have arrested four more people for allegedly having links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, reported Reuters . Police inspector general Khalid Abu Bakar said the two Tamils, one Muslim and one Sinhalese, "were planning to reactivate the group by making Malaysia as their base of operations" adding that some had “exploited their status as refugees to pursue illegal activities”.
The Sri Lankan government’s adherence to policies by the IMF, was behind the annual cuts in social welfare, health and education budgets, UNP MP and financial analyst Eran Wickremeratne told The Island . "Whom is the IMF trying to fool? It may not be fashioning government policy directly, but it is the IMF driven philosophy of the ruling UPFA that has resulted in the continued reduction in the education, health and social welfare allocations," he said. Wickremeratne said that public investment was kept at 6.9% of the GDP, which was largely spent on the construction of airports, ports and...
A Chinese embassy official said that a stable and peaceful Sri Lanka was to India’s advantage and that the country can gain a lot from its southern neighbour, reported Colombo Gazette . Speaking at an event in Colombo, Ren Faqiang said that India was one of the first countries to make use of the Chinese funded Hambantota port and that Sri Lanka was now more like a developed country due to the many infrastructure project funded by the Chinese. Faqiang said that China will continue to support Sri Lanka on the human rights issue, as the “reliable friend and partner” continues to support China in...
Photo: @AiyoMalli The paramilitary leader and Minister Douglas Devananda represented the Sri Lankan government at an event to celebrate the US independence day at an event in Colombo. The leader of the notorious EPDP addressed the attendees at the function inside the US Embassy to Sri Lanka, alongside Ambassador Michele Sison. Devananda is one of the most notorious paramilitary figures and has an outstanding arrest warrant from India, for a murder committed in Chennai in 1986. The minister and his paramilitary, who is backed by the Sri Lankan government, has been accused of being responsible...
The Tamil Refugee Council Friday claimed that at least 11 Tamil asylum seekers that were handed over to the Sri Lankan navy by Australia have already been tortured by Sri Lankan intelligence services. See statement here . “There were at least 11 people on this boat who had been arrested by Sri Lanka’s intelligence forces and had been tortured,” said the spokesperson for the Tamil Refugee Council, Aran Mylvaganam. “They fled Sri Lanka to a refugee camp in India and from there got on a boat and came to Australia. If they are handed over to the Sri Lankan authorities we are certain their lives are in danger,” he added.
Possibilities of war crimes charges and international sanctions on Sri Lanka were discussed at a Parliamentary Group meeting chaired by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, on Wednesday, reports Ceylon Today . Speaking on the possibility of Sri Lanka being referred to the United Nations Security Council for war crimes, several parliamentarians in the meeting said that China and Russia would work to protect Sri Lanka.
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Thursday, expressed ‘profound concern,’ over reports that two boats of Tamil asylum seekers off the coast of Christmas Island by Australia, had been sent back to Sri Lanka. “International law prescribes that no individual can be returned involuntarily to a country in which he or she has a well-founded fear of persecution,” said the UNHCR’s regional office in Australia in a statement released Thursday evening, reports The Guardian . “When boats presumed to be carrying asylum seekers are intercepted, UNHCR’s position is that requests for international protection should be considered within the territory of the intercepting state, consistent with fundamental refugee protection principles,” the statement further said.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Australia, Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, Thursday, rejected claims that asylum seekers deported to the island would face human rights abuses and harassment, reports Adaderana.lk . Responding to questions on the plight of asylum seekers reported to be returned to Sri Lanka, Samarasinghe said that they would face the magistrates court and be released on bail. “If there is criminal evidence of such people, they would be punished and put through the normal process,” he added.
The UK continued its call on Sri Lanka to endorse the declaration to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, the British High Commission in Sri Lanka said in a statement on Thursday. ‘In Sri Lanka, as elsewhere, there is a need to ensure that there is no impunity for acts of sexual violence in conflict," th e statement said, noting that over three quarters of world’s countries had endorsed the declaration. “These include countries such as Burma, Nigeria and Cambodia, which have suffered long conflicts, and whose Governments are now determined to take action on sexual violence. By taking effective...
The South African Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, Cyril Ramaphosa, is due to visit the island next week for talks with the government and other groups, to discuss a political solution for the “Northeast problem” a senior government source told the Daily Mirror. Several parties in the ruling coalition expressed their opposition to the visit. “No positive results would be brought from a South African model peace initiative as the issues in Sri Lanka and South Africa are totally different. Besides, South Africa cannot win the confidence of the people in Sri Lanka as that country maintained a close link with the LTTE. Therefore, it concerns only on the grievances of minorities,” said spokesperson for the JHU Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe.