Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

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A delegation from the European Union is to visit the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna on Wednesday morning, after the Jaffna Magistrate's Court granted permission for the inspection on Monday, in the latest instance of international attention on a site where excavations continue to unearth evidence of atrocity. The visit comes amid sustained calls from Tamil families, human rights groups and…

'A boy from war-torn Sri Lanka' - Nishan Canagarajah receives his knighthood

British Tamil Professor Sir Nishan Canagarajah has been knighted by King Charles at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, formally conferring an honour that caps a remarkable journey for the University of Leicester's vice-chancellor, from wartime Jaffna to the upper reaches of British public life.

Paramilitary leader Pillayan to remain in remand over Batticaloa killings

Former Sri Lankan state minister and paramilitary leader Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, widely known as Pillayan, has been further remanded until 24 July as the Criminal Investigation Department continues its probe into five killings in Batticaloa in 2008.

Sri Lanka prison death toll rises as officers succumb to injuries

The death toll from the deadly clashes at Negombo Prison has risen to 31 after two more prison officers died while receiving treatment at the National Hospital in Colombo.

Prison rules

Last week saw the second deadliest episode of prison violence in Sri Lanka's history. Only the massacre of Tamil political prisoners at Welikada in 1983 has claimed more lives inside a Sri Lankan jail. It is a record the state should be haunted to approach.

Tamil residents intervene to block Sri Lankan military land grab in Maruthankerni

A fresh attempt to acquire Tamil land in Vadamaradchi East for reported Sri Lankan military use was suspended on Thursday after the landowner, local residents and activists intervened to block the survey.

Palaly land will not be returned, says deputy minister, as 1,661 more acres are seized

Sri Lanka's deputy defence minister has told parliament that land held within the Palaly High Security Zone deemed vital to national security will not be returned to its Tamil owners, and that a further 1,661 acres are to be permanently acquired for the military, with still more sought to expand the airport, even as displaced families across the North-East enter their third month of weekly protests demanding their land back.

From Tamil school stages to the FIFA World Cup

For Toronto-based dancer Kajaanan Navaratnam, an early connection to Tamil culture became the foundation for an international performance career, eventually leading him to one of the biggest sporting events in the world: the FIFA World Cup 2026 opening ceremony in Canada.

Twelve weeks on, Myliddy families protest a military that farms and trades on their land

Residents of Valikamam North staged their twelfth consecutive weekly protest on Friday outside the Sri Lankan military commander's bungalow at Myliddy, demanding the release of the privately owned ancestral land that remains occupied under the High Security Zone (HSZ).

Navaly marks 31 years since Sri Lanka bombed a church full of refugees

Relatives and clergy have gathered at St Peter's Church in Navaly to mark 31 years since the Sri Lankan Air Force dropped 13 bombs on the church and a neighbouring Hindu temple where hundreds of Tamil civilians, urged by the military itself to shelter in places of worship, had taken refuge, killing 147, an atrocity for which no Sri Lankan government has ever accepted responsibility.

As nearly 300 monks face abuse claims, a prelate cries defamation

As Sri Lanka's Buddhist clergy faces an unprecedented reckoning over child sexual abuse, with nearly 300 monks accused in three years and one of its most senior figures under arrest, the Chief Prelate of the Asgiriya Chapter has called on Buddhists to close ranks, casting the mounting allegations as a defamatory campaign against the faith.