Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Jaffna and Palaly protests mark 36 years since Valikamam North displacement
Displaced residents of the Valikamam North region of Jaffna held protests on Monday, in front of the Jaffna District Secretariat and near Palaly Junction, marking 36 years since their forced displacement and demanding the right to return and resettle in their lands. The people of Valikamam North were displaced from their homeland on 15 June 1990 by the Sri Lankan military. Thirty-six years on…

SL Army build archway depicting battles between Sinhala and Tamil king

Nov 23, 2013
The Sri Lankan army unveiled a new archway in Anuradhapura on Saturday, depicting the historic battles between the Sinhala King Dutu Gemunu and the Chola King Ellalan (or 'Elara').



New figures highlight deportation of legitimate refugees by Australian immigration authority

Nov 23, 2013

Latest figures form the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection indicate that most of the asylum seekers coming from the island of Sri Lanka had been persecuted on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

Indian Navy Chief visits Sri Lanka for conference

Nov 23, 2013

India’s Chief of Naval Staff Admiral DK Joshi has arrived in Sri Lanka to attend an international maritime security conference in Galle.

Admiral Joshi was welcomed at the Katunayake airport by Sri Lanka’s Chief of Staff of the Navy, Rear Admiral Jayantha Perera.

The Sri Lankan Navy said that his participation in the Galle Dialogue is a symbolic gesture of goodwill between the two friendly navies.

UN Special Rapporteur to visit North-East

Nov 23, 2013

Sri Lanka’s external affairs ministry announced today that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, will visit Sri Lanka next week.

UNP slams Rajapaksa over possibility of int'l inquiry

Nov 23, 2013
Sri Lanka's opposition, the UNP, has slammed the President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government for allowing the country to be brought up in front of an international inquiry.

In a special statement, the UNP condemned the government's signing up to the 39th sentence of a declaration signed by all leaders of the Commonwealth during the summit held earlier this month, which said all nations would adhere to the Vienna Declaration.

Police destroy posters promoting self-determination in North-East

Nov 23, 2013

Police in the area of Velvettithurai have recently had to destroy posters and stickers on walls in support of a separate state for the North-East of Sri Lanka.

Credentials worthy of the SL Cabinet

Nov 23, 2013
The Deputy Minister S.M. Chandrasena, who organised the protests in Anuradhapura during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet which mobbed the Channel 4 news team who were on board a train towards the North, has been appointed a Cabinet Minister by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, reports the Colombo Telegraph.

Poet's arrest part of 'on-going witch hunt' - Jaffna Uni lecturer

Nov 23, 2013
Speaking to Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka (JDS) on the arrest of the Norwegian Tamil poet Jayapalan, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Jaffna, said that the arrest  “was part of the ongoing campaign of witch-hunt against Tamils journalists, university students and academics”.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the lecturer added,

Norwegian Tamil poet arrested by SL intelligence in Maankulam

Nov 22, 2013
The acclaimed poet and actor, Jeyapalan, was arrested in Maankulam on Friday by the Terrorism Investigation Department (TID) at taken to the TID office in Vavuniya.

Jeyapalan, who resides in Norway having fled the ethnic conflict, had returned to pay his respects at his late mother's grave in Maankulam.

According to reports, at approximately 5pm, security forces arrested him stating he had violated visa regulations. He is understood to have entered Sri Lanka on a tourist visa.

However, according to PTI, the Sri Lankan police spokesperson Ajith Rohana said that Jayapalan had been arrested for holding seminars in Jaffna.

SL military seize 3200 acres in Mullaitheevu district

Nov 22, 2013
The Sri Lankan military has seized 3200 acres of land in Odduchuddaan DS division in Mullaitheevu district, reported TamilNet, citing sources in Vanni.

See here for more.
New figures highlight deportation of legitimate refugees by Australian immigration authority
Indian Navy Chief visits Sri Lanka for conference
UN Special Rapporteur to visit North-East
UNP slams Rajapaksa over possibility of int'l inquiry
Police destroy posters promoting self-determination in North-East
Credentials worthy of the SL Cabinet
Poet's arrest part of 'on-going witch hunt' - Jaffna Uni lecturer
Norwegian Tamil poet arrested by SL intelligence in Maankulam
SL military seize 3200 acres in Mullaitheevu district
Rajapaksa blessed at the Sacred Tooth for assuming Commonwealth Chair post
New figures highlight deportation of legitimate refugees by Australian immigration authority
Indian Navy Chief visits Sri Lanka for conference
UN Special Rapporteur to visit North-East
UNP slams Rajapaksa over possibility of int'l inquiry
Police destroy posters promoting self-determination in North-East
Credentials worthy of the SL Cabinet
Poet's arrest part of 'on-going witch hunt' - Jaffna Uni lecturer
Norwegian Tamil poet arrested by SL intelligence in Maankulam
SL military seize 3200 acres in Mullaitheevu district
Rajapaksa blessed at the Sacred Tooth for assuming Commonwealth Chair post