Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Namal Rajapaksa demands summoning of Canadian High Commissioner over Tamil Genocide Monument
Namal Rajapaksa, parliamentarian and son of accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa, has called on the Sri Lankan government to summon the Canadian High Commissioner to formally protest the unveiling of a Tamil Genocide Monument in Brampton, Canada, claiming it promotes a “false genocide narrative” and “distorts history.” In a statement released on X (formerly Twitter), Rajapaksa accused the…

Presidential candidates reject EU election monitors

Dec 12, 2014
EU monitors will not be present at Sri Lanka's upcoming presidential election, after their inclusion was rejected by four presidential candidates, reports the Sunday Leader.

The paper quoted the election commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya, as saying that "he can only invite election monitors from the unions or forums only if the Department of Election or the country holds memberships of those unions."

“Four presidential candidates disagreed to invite the election monitors from the EU. Therefore, we will not be able to call upon the election monitors from the EU,” he reportedly added.

Last week, local election monitoring groups - The People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL), Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV), Transparency International Sri Lanka (TISL), the Campaign for Free and Elections (CaFFE), Movement for Free and Fair Elections (MFFE), Mothers and Daughters of Lanka (MDL) and the National Polls Observation Centre (NPOC) - called candidates to ensure the elections took place free off violence.

Yet another international name to domestic probe ahead of OISL report

Dec 12, 2014
The government of Sri Lanka added yet another international name to its domestic inquiry ahead of the publishing of the UN inquiry's report on mass atrocities against the Tamil people in March 2015.

Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed a former international judge of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Motoo Noguchi from Japan to the country's 'Presidential Commission to Investigate into Complaints Regarding Missing Person', reports Colombo Page.

Motoo is the seventh international expert to be appointed to the domestic probe. The probe's chair has already made clear that the experts have only been included in an advisory capacity.

UK says trade with Sri Lanka goes 'hand in hand' with human rights

Dec 12, 2014
Thusiyan Nandakumar
The British government continued to call on Sri Lanka to co-operate with a United Nations investigation into mass atrocities on the island and stated that the UK's trade with Sri Lanka goes “hand in hand” with its commitment to human rights.

Speaking during a debate in the House of Lords on Thursday, Lord Livingston, the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills & Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said,
“Trade is important not only to the prosperity of the UK but to Sri Lanka and its people. However, the UK’s commitment to free trade goes hand in hand with our commitment to human rights. That point has been made volubly.”
“We continue to urge Sri Lanka to co-operate and ensure the protection of those providing evidence to the investigation, and to implement the recommendation of its own internal commission on resettlement and rehabilitation.”
The question of whether the British government would deploy sanctions against Sri Lanka was raised during the debate, with Lord Livingston saying,
“The UK Government’s position on this is that it is premature to do anything more prior to the UN reporting on the matter, and we are expecting the UN’s report in March 2015. When we receive it, it will be appropriate for the Government to take a view of which, if any, of those recommendations should be taken up.”

Tamil man returns home after 25 years in detention

Dec 12, 2014
A Tamil man, who was assumed to be dead, returned to his home in Jaffna on Friday, after being detained without charge for 25 years in a Sri Lankan detention centre.

S. Vairavanathan was arrested in Colombo after a bomb blast in 1990. He was 28 years old at the time. Following his arrest, Vairavanathan was held in a detention camp in Hambantota for 25 years without being charged.

Both his mother and father, who were searching for the whereabouts of their son have now passed away. Failing to find him, it was assumed he was dead.

SL Air Force plane crash kills 4 officers

Dec 11, 2014
A Sri Lankan military plane crashed near the capital city of Colombo on Friday morning killing four officers and injuring one more.

The Antonov-32, a plane purchased from Ukraine in 1996 and repaired in Russia last year, crashed on route from Katunayake to Ratmalana in the island's south.

Sri Lanka trade deficit widens by 141.7 percent

Dec 11, 2014
Sri Lanka’s trade deficit widened by 141.7 percent over the past year, the Central Bank said in its External Sector Performance review released on Friday.

The trade deficit in October 2014 widened to US $851.7 million compared to US$ 353.3 million in October 2013.

The significant widening of the trade deficit was due to increased expenditure on imports amidst reducing earnings from exports. The increase in imports during October, was predominantly caused by rising imports in fuel and vehicles reports Colombo Page.

Senior JHU official joins Mahinda camp

Dec 10, 2014

The deputy general secretary of the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) has declared his support for incumbent, President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the presidential election next month.

Speaking at the SLFP headquarters earlier today, Udaya Gammanpila said he could not support the attempts by the UNP to regain power as he feels they will divide the country.

Gammanpila said he will resign from the JHU and join Rajapaksa’s SLFP as he could not support some of the pledges made by the common opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena.

ICC ‘enquired about army’s command chain’ warns Rajapaksa

Dec 10, 2014

Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa has claimed that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked about the chain of command in the Sri Lankan armed forces.

Speaking at his first election rally in Anuradhapura, Rajapaksa said this gave a “strong indication” that some sections of the international community were attempting to prosecute officials in Sri Lanka’s military.

Rajapaksa will face the opposition candidate Maithripala Sirisena at the presidential election next month and both camps have used the rejection of the international probe into war crimes as a key tenet of their campaign.

The president said he would never allow any member of the security forces to be taken to the ICC.

"Sri Lankan government will not bow down for foreign interventions in the matter of the war victory," Rajapaksa said, adding that he will not permit a “foreign force” to jeopardise the political stability in Sri Lanka.

SL Navy arrests 27 Tamil Nadu fishermen

Dec 10, 2014
The Sri Lankan navy arrested 27 fishermen from Tamil Nadu on Wednesday night, on alleged poaching charges, reports DNA Analysis.

The 27 were arrested along with six boats. According to the Assistant Director of Fisheries Department, Sekar, the Sri Lankan navy personnel destroyed the fishermen's nets.

The fishermen were later released following a warning, PTI reported.

Buddhist monks invoke blessings for Sri Lanka 'war heroes'

Dec 10, 2014


Over 300 Buddhist monks came together to invoke blessings for the Sri Lankan army, air force and navy, at a meeting attended by the Defence Secretary, Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday.

Yet another international name to domestic probe ahead of OISL report
UK says trade with Sri Lanka goes 'hand in hand' with human rights
Tamil man returns home after 25 years in detention
SL Air Force plane crash kills 4 officers
Sri Lanka trade deficit widens by 141.7 percent
Senior JHU official joins Mahinda camp
ICC ‘enquired about army’s command chain’ warns Rajapaksa
SL Navy arrests 27 Tamil Nadu fishermen
Buddhist monks invoke blessings for Sri Lanka 'war heroes'
Sirisena denies pact with TNA amid reports of private endorsement
Yet another international name to domestic probe ahead of OISL report
UK says trade with Sri Lanka goes 'hand in hand' with human rights
Tamil man returns home after 25 years in detention
SL Air Force plane crash kills 4 officers
Sri Lanka trade deficit widens by 141.7 percent
Senior JHU official joins Mahinda camp
ICC ‘enquired about army’s command chain’ warns Rajapaksa
SL Navy arrests 27 Tamil Nadu fishermen
Buddhist monks invoke blessings for Sri Lanka 'war heroes'
Sirisena denies pact with TNA amid reports of private endorsement