A Tamil asylum seeker's transfer, ahead of his deportation, was postponed, after passengers on his plane protested by refusing to sit down and fasten their seat belts.

25-year old Puvaneethan was due to be transferred from Melbourne to Darwin, where he would have been prepared for deportation.

"After boarding QF838 in Melbourne, a number of passengers became disruptive. The passengers refused to follow cabin crew instruction so were offloaded and met by the AFP," a Qantas spokesperson said.

"The issue has since been resolved with the flight departing approximately 50 minutes later."

Mr Puvaneethan, who fears torture if he was returned to Sri Lanka, expressed gratitude to the protestors.

“I’m back in the room and I’m fine. I want to say thank-you to all the people who helped
me,” Mr Puvaneethan told the Tamil Refugee Council (TRC).

Tamil residents lodging complaints that their land was being used for uncontrolled sand mining, in the Vanni coastal area of Jaffna Lagoon, Poonakiri, were urged to protest by the Northern Provincial Council Minister of Agriculture Livestock, Irrigation and Environment, on Saturday.

“Sand mining is being carried out illicitly using an illegitimate licence. People will not be able to live in this archaeologically significant place. We will take this matter to the attention of the central government immediately, if the government refuses to take action, the people should protest,” said Mr Ayngaranesan.

The Australian billionaire James Packer has been told he is unwelcome in Sri Lanka by its prime minister, after he decided to pull out of a multi-million pounds luxury resort due to the new government's ban on new casinos.

Mr Packer's plans to build a casino in the resort were approved by previous president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who granted generous tax concessions for the $350mn-worth 400-bedroom hotel.

The new government, under President Maithripala Sirisena, banned the building of new casinos and withdrew the tax concessions, causing Mr Packer's Crown Group to withdraw from the project.

Photographs DailyMirror.lk

In his latest visit to a Buddhist sacred site, Sri Lanka's new president, Maithripala Sirisena this weekend visited Mahiyangana, receiving blessings from the Buddhist clergy at the local Buddhist temple.

Sri Lanka's foreign minister, Mangala Samaraweera says the GSP+ trade concessions, currently withdrawn from Sri Lanka, are likely to be reinstated.

Speaking to the Sunday Times after his visit to Brussels, Mr Samaraweera said the EU had provided advice to the government on measures to be taken, before Sri Lanka's request to reinstate the concessions can be considered.

The EU suspended the GSP+ tariff in 2010, due to the government's failure to adhere with the fundamental human rights conventions, as expected of all recipients of the concession.

The new Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has pledged to investigate "LTTE activities" over the past few years.

Mr Wickremesinghe said the old government led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, had links to the LTTE.

“This is part of our probe on corruption. The former Government always accused us of having links with the LTTE but it was they who had links with the Tigers,” he said to media.

The prime minister claimed that there was an attempt by the "LTTE" to prevent Tamils from voting at the presidential elections.

Experts from the European Union will visit Sri Lanka to assess measures taken by the government in its attempt to overturn an EU ban on imports of fishery products from the island.

“The aim of the delegation will be to review the implementation of EU recommendations. The former Government failed to do it, but we are doing it promptly,” Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ajith Perera said according to the Sunday Times.

The minister said he was "hopeful" that the ban will be lifted within months as the government was taking "immediate and effective" steps to implement recommendations made by the EU.