Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the US and Mexico, Jaliya Wickramasuriya, is mapping out plans to draw in 100,000 American tourist to the island by 2016 in part of an attempt to increase tourist traffic flow to Maldives and India. He said , “We are working on an aggressive campaign to attract 100,000 American tourists to the island by 2016.” In 2011, there was a 22 percent increase in tourists from North America to the country to 49,057 travelers compared to the year before. According to the tourism office, first six months of this year has also showed a 20 percent increase to 27,355 compared to...
The Sports Minister of Sri Lanka and captain of the Olympic delegation to the 2012 Games have clashed over the lack of coaches sent to accompany to athletes at the Olympic Games in London. Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage stated that the Olympic Committee went against his advice, commenting, "I told the Olympic Committee to allow Niluka's father to travel to London. I also advised the shooting association to send Mangala Samarakoon's coach but I was told by the OC that it was too late as they have already sent the list." Recently the Sri Lankan opposition party, the UNP, criticised the...
Three Tamil men were found murdered on the same night in Visuvamadu, Mullaitivu district, reported Uthayan on Monday. The body of Vijayakumar, a 33-year-old Tamil man from Visuvamadu itself was found hung from a tree. The body of Sivarasa, a 45-year-old Tamil man and father of five from Pokkanai, was found with its neck severed by an axe, after having been set alight. The body of Arunachalam Ramanathan, a 73-year-old Tamil man, was also found murdered and burnt. TamilNet reports that all three men were colloborating with the Sri Lankan Army in the sexual harrassment of Tamil women. See here .
37 Chinese fishermen, arrested by the Sri Lankan navy on Monday , have been handed over to Chinese embassy officials in Trincomalee. The men were arrested after they were caught fishing without permission of the coast of Batticaloa, prompting the Chinese embassy to urge for the immediate release. Two Sri Lankans on the trawlers were also arrested and released on bail. "The fault is not with the (Chinese) crew. The case is against the (Sri Lankan) owner now," Navy spokesman Kosala Warnakulasuriya told Reuters. "We have handed over the Chinese crew to officials from the Chinese embassy,"
The British Tamil hunger striker, Gobi Sivanthan, 17 days into his fast, protesting against Sri Lanka at the London 2012 Olympics.
A woman allegedly raped by three Sri Lankan Army soldiers on Sunday, "willingly participated" said a spokesperson for Haputale police, SP Ajith Rohana. The three soldiers were arrested on Monday, after being apprehended by railway security officers whilst on a train to Badulla. According to the Sinhala news site, Adaderana, Rohana said, 'initial investigations had later revealed that the alleged rape victim had willingly participated'. The soldiers were on their way to Diyatalawa military base for training.
The Sri Lankan Navy detained 37 Chinese fishermen on Sunday night, prompting China to call for their immediate release, reported the China's state news agency, Xinhua. "The Chinese embassy ... has urged Sri Lankan authorities to handle the issue in accordance with the law, sort out the truth and release the Chinese fishermen as soon as possible," reported Xinhua. According to Xinhua the fishermen were on board two trawlers by the coast of Batticaloa. Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror states the trawlers were 13 nautical miles off the coast of the island, and therefore in breach of a China-SL agreement...
The director of the Coordination and Response Division of the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), John Ging, made a number of comments following a 3 day official visit to Sri Lanka. The UN official visited the North-East, where many people still lack basic services and facilities, following the Sri Lankan government onslaught in 2009. According to OCHA people in the region have asked for basic assistance such as sanitary facilities, clean water, shelter, electricity and livelihoods support. Commenting on the situation, Ging said: “In 2012, it is absolutely unacceptable that tens of thousands of people are living in such appalling conditions without access to the most basic services,”
American retailer J Crew has decided to pull orders from Sri Lankan manufacturer Mirrai PVT Ltd failed to follow industry regulations and correct violations, reported the Sunday Times. The move was hailed by IndustriALL Global Union, who commented that the move showed that codes of conduct were "more than paper tigers". The union attempted to meet company owners and labour authorities to discuss corrections of serious violations, but their attempts were rebuffed. The buyer, J Crew were then asked to look at the violations, and when Mirrai PVT Ltd continued to refuse to make the necessary...
Civil officials in the Amparai district have stated that over 3,500 families have been driven from their land, with over 12000 acres of land being seized from the Tamil population, reported TamilNet on Sunday. Since 2007, over 20 Saiva temples have been destroyed, with suspected backing by Sri Lankan Special Task Force (STF) commandos. Reports from the district have indicated that newly constructed Buddhist Stupas have cropped up on land appropriated from Tamils. Rauf Hakeem, the Minister of Justice in Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government recently assured a foreign envoy that steps would be taken...