Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

A protest march was held last month opposing limestone excavation, mineral sand mining and a proposed wind power project across the villages of Veravil, Valaipadu, Ponnaveli and Kiranchi, in the Poonakary Divisional Secretariat division of Kilinochchi. The demonstration was organised against plans to establish wind power stations and to carry out mineral sand and limestone extraction in the…

Attack in Amparai leaves 9 men and women injured


Photograph: Battinews

9 Eelam Tamil asylum seekers arrested by Indian police

Indian security forces arrested nine Eelam Tamil refugees Friday, who were allegedly attempting to flee the country from the town of Oriyur in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, reports The Hindu.

“They were to be illegally ferried to Australia when police arrested them,” the Police Superintendent was quoted by the paper as saying.

According to the police, the nine men were from refugee camps across Tamil Nadu. See more here.

Government withholding funds to Northern Province says Chief Minister

The Chief Minister of the Northern Province, C.V. Wigneswaran said the government was withholding funds, whilst publicly announcing it had been delivered.

"They [the government] are proclaiming that Rs 500 lakh budget has been given to the Northern Province, but the majority of the funds has not been given [to us]," Justice Wigneswaran was quoted by the Uthayan newspaper as saying.

The government was meanwhile claiming via press statements on television and in newspapers that all the funds had been delivered, the Chief Minister said.

Second Tamil student at Sabaragamuwa University arrested by TID

Sri Lanka’s Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) has detained another Tamil student from Sabaragamuwa University, following his discharge from hospital where he was receiving treatment after being attacked.

Santhirakumar Sutharshan from Muhamalai was arrested on his return to the university hostel by Sri Lanka’s TID. The student had been receiving treatment at Balangoda and Ratnapura after he had been attacked on Sunday.

Following Sutharshan’s arrest, his parents were told that he had been sent to the infamous 4th floor of Sri Lanka's Criminal Investigation Department in Colombo.

Another Tamil youth, second-year student Yoganathan Nirojan, was arrested on Tuesday and is also being detained at the 4th floor.

See more the Uthayan here.

Sri Lanka and Bahrain look to bolster economies

A meeting discussing joint cooperation between Sri Lankan investors and the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) was held Friday in Beit Al-Tejjar, reports the Colombo Gazette.

The two groups discussed joint investment cooperation in all economic sectors and methods of increasing the volume of trade between the two countries economies.

British officials met Sri Lankan military advisers shortly after 70,000 Tamil civilian deaths in May 2009

The Police in Northern Ireland (PSNI) held a meeting between British officials and a Sri Lankan military adviser a month over 70,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the Sri Lankan government’s final onslaught in May 2006, reports The Guardian.

A freedom of information request resulted in UK government lawyers confirming  that no official minutes were taken during the meeting, in Belfast between the two parties.


A researcher from the pressure group Corporate Watch, who submitted the Freedom of Information (FOI) request raised questions over Britain’s demeanour with the Sri Lankan government after May 2009.


Speaking to The Guardian Phil Miller said,

“We are being kept in the dark about what went on at this Belfast meeting. Did Britain raise any concerns about Sri Lanka’s massacre of Tamils before it let the PSNI continue its role as ‘critical friends’ with Colombo?”


Yasmine Ahmed, from Rights Watch UK, said


"The British public has a right to know the nature and extent of UK government cooperation with and support to the Sri Lankan government during a period of brutal violence and severe human rights abuses against the Tamil population."

Chief Monks urge BBS and government ministers to make amends

Chief Prelates urged the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) to resolve its differences with government ministers through dialogue during a meeting in Kandy on Friday.

The BBS recently had strong arguments with Ministers Rishad Bathiudeen and Rajitha Senaratne after one of the ministers called for all extremist and racial organisations to be banned.

Rajapaksa accuses UN organisations of 'deliberate' violations of principles of justice

The Sri Lankan President accused United Nations organisations of ‘deliberate’ violations of fundamental principles of justice and rule of law, reports the Colombo Page.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the Third South Asia Judicial Roundtable on Environmental Justice, on Friday, Rajapaksa said,

Lawyers for families of disappeared request further excavations of Mannar mass grave

Lawyers representing families of disappeared Tamils have filed an application in court, requesting further excavation of a mass grave that was unearthed in Mannar in December last year, reports BBC Tamil.

The remains of at least 80 people were excavated from the mass grave in Thirukketheeswaram, with many of the wounds discovered on the bodies believed to have been caused by gunshots. Both the Bishop of Mannar and the Tamil National Alliance called for an international investigation into the mass grave site.

The Sri Lankan courts approved the request for further excavations, and also ordered an affidavit from the Mannar regional chair person, who stated that there were no records of a cemetery in the area, to be produced before them.

See more from BBC Tamil here.