Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Sri Lankan military helicopter crash kills six soldiers
At least six Sri Lankan military personnel were killed on Friday after a helicopter assigned to a training exercise crashed into the Maduru Oya reservoir in the Eastern Province. The Bell 212 helicopter, which was carrying a dozen armed forces personnel, was reportedly conducting a grappling exercise linked to a passing-out parade when the crash occurred. “Four special forces personnel and…

Sri Lanka not discussed at CMAG meeting

Sep 27, 2013
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Vote for liberation

Sep 26, 2013
Lead Story
The landslide victory of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) at the Northern Provincial Council (NPC) election was an act of sheer defiance by the Tamil people. Their emphatic endorsement of the TNA at the ballot box - whose campaign highlighted the core Tamil political demands and the Tamil armed resistance for independence - was a resolute affirmation (through the only means available to them) that the political aspirations outlined in the Thimphu declaration of 1985, continue to be the basis of the Tamil struggle. This was not a vote for the TNA. It was a vote for resistance. It was a refusal to accept the government's mantra of 'development, rehabilitation and reconciliation' and an unequivocal assertion to the international community of the absolute minimum political demands of the Tamil people. Ironically, through the process of voting in the election, the Tamil people categorically rejected the NPC as any basis to a political solution. Four years after the government celebrated the military defeat of the LTTE, as the quashing of the Tamil nation's call for freedom, this could not be further from the truth. The people have spoken and their message is clear – they have not surrendered. The Tamil people demand the right to self-determination.

Amnesty urges CMAG to break silence on Sri Lanka

Sep 26, 2013
Amnesty International, called on the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), to break their silence on Sri Lanka’s human rights record today.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, made up of foreign ministers and headed by Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma, is gathered to address violations of the Commonwealth’s fundamental values, including human rights, in New York today.

Slamming the Commonwealth’s endorsement of Sri Lanka and holding of the Commonwealth heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, Amnesty International’s deputy Asia-Pacific Director, Polly Truscott, said,

Difficult to participate fully' in CHOGM says Canadian FM

Sep 26, 2013
The Foreign Affairs Minister of Canada, John Baird, said that "given the current circumstances in Sri Lanka and the lack of substantial progress to date, it would be difficult for the Government of Canada to fully participate" in CHOGM on Thursday, during the 68th session of the UN General Assembly.

Baird said:
“Again today, I spoke out loudly and clearly on the issue of human rights in Sri Lanka, including on our concerns on the lack of accountability for the serious allegations of war crimes, the lack of reconciliation with the Tamil community and with the events that have taken place since the end of the civil war.

“As the Prime Minister has stated very clearly, we expect our concerns to be addressed seriously by the Government of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, given the current circumstances in Sri Lanka and the lack of substantial progress to date, it would be difficult for the Government of Canada to fully participate.

Emergency injunction halts deportation of Tamil family from UK

Sep 25, 2013

After an intense battle with the High Court, a last minute injunction was placed on the deportation of a Tamil family to Sri Lanka.

Pasumai Thaayagam speaks on genocide, land grab and militarisation at UNHRC

Sep 25, 2013
Speaking on behalf of the non-governmental organisation Pasumai Thaayagam at the United Naitons Human Rights Council General Debate, Anbumani Ramadoss, outlined the continuing genocide of the Tamil people in the North-East of Sri Lanka.



Also speaking at the General debate of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a representative of  Pasumai Thaayagam, Tasha Manoranjan outlined the on-going land grab and militarisation in the North-East of Sri Lanka.

The full statement can be found below.

SL reiterates that land powers remain with the central government

Sep 25, 2013

The Sri Lankan Supreme Court, announced in a ruling today, that land powers in Sri Lanka were vested with the Central Government and not with the Provincial Councils.

SL rejects Navi Pillay's March 2014 deadline

Sep 25, 2013

Sri Lanka’ s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Ravintha Aryasinaha, rejected the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay’s March 2014 deadline for Sri Lanka to address concerns regarding the investigation of rights violations.

Speaking at the United Nations Human Rights council, Arayasinha said,

HRW urges Commonwealth Ministers to press SL on rights abuses

Sep 25, 2013
Human Rights watch urged Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, to press Sri Lanka on human rights abuses and make it a priority during the meeting due to take place tomorrow.

HRW's Asia Director, Brad Adams said:
“The UN rights chief decried a worsening situation in Sri Lanka and listed past and present problems that contradict official ‘Commonwealth values,’”

“The Commonwealth should not bury its head in the sand and ignore Sri Lanka’s serious human rights problems.”

Lawyers Rights Watch call for 'complete' withdrawal of military from N-E

Sep 25, 2013
In a statement delivered at the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada condemned the military's interference at the Northern Provincial Council this weekend, drawing particular attention to the attack against the TNA candidate, Ananthi Sasitharan.

Calling on the Sri Lankan government to "fully withdraw its military from the North and East of Sri Lanka", the group demanded that the "withdrawal of the military  should be immediate, unconditional, and complete and should take place
by December 31, 2013".

Delivering the statement, Vani Selvarajah of LRWC said:
Vote for liberation
Amnesty urges CMAG to break silence on Sri Lanka
Difficult to participate fully' in CHOGM says Canadian FM
Emergency injunction halts deportation of Tamil family from UK
Pasumai Thaayagam speaks on genocide, land grab and militarisation at UNHRC
SL reiterates that land powers remain with the central government
SL rejects Navi Pillay's March 2014 deadline
HRW urges Commonwealth Ministers to press SL on rights abuses
Lawyers Rights Watch call for 'complete' withdrawal of military from N-E
International community's duty to set up investigation mechanism in SL: Navi Pillay
Vote for liberation
Amnesty urges CMAG to break silence on Sri Lanka
Difficult to participate fully' in CHOGM says Canadian FM
Emergency injunction halts deportation of Tamil family from UK
Pasumai Thaayagam speaks on genocide, land grab and militarisation at UNHRC
SL reiterates that land powers remain with the central government
SL rejects Navi Pillay's March 2014 deadline
HRW urges Commonwealth Ministers to press SL on rights abuses
Lawyers Rights Watch call for 'complete' withdrawal of military from N-E
International community's duty to set up investigation mechanism in SL: Navi Pillay