Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Namal Rajapaksa, parliamentarian and son of accused war criminal Mahinda Rajapaksa, has called on the Sri Lankan government to summon the Canadian High Commissioner to formally protest the unveiling of a Tamil Genocide Monument in Brampton, Canada, claiming it promotes a “false genocide narrative” and “distorts history.” In a statement released on X (formerly Twitter), Rajapaksa accused the…

US grants request and gives SL oil concession

The United States has allowed Sri Lanka time to scale down its import of Iranian oil after Sri Lankan pleaded with US officials for concessions.

Petroleum Industries Minister, Susil Premajayantha said that Sri Lanka now had to cut down its import of oil from Iran by 15% for the current year, managing to evade a total ban that comes into force in June of this year.

Speaking on Saturday he commented,

TNA welcomes adoption of UNHRC resolution

The Tamil National Alliance has welcomed the passing of the US-sponsored resolution at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Full text follows:

"We believe that the Resolution will benefit all Sri Lankans, regardless of ethnicity. We sincerely hope that the Resolution and the clear collective will of the Council will encourage the government to face the future with fortitude and move decisively to protect human rights and take tangible action to advance genuine reconciliation,

England cricket fans fume over “foreigner” ticket prices

English cricket fans have been outraged by a decision taken by the cash-strapped Sri Lankan Cricket board to charge “foreigners” higher prices for tickets than for locals, with prices up to ten times higher than those charged to Australian fans, just seven months ago.

Representatives from England’s Barmy Army, the unofficial supporters group of the English Cricket team, were livid at the controversial two-tier policy and began drawing up

Reconciliation and accountability necessary for peace - Clinton

Welcoming the UN resolution passed at the 19th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, the US Secretary of State, Hiliary Clinton said,

"The United States, together with the international community, sent a strong signal that Sri Lanka will only achieve lasting peace through real reconciliation and accountability,"

"And the international community stands ready to help,"

Sri Lanka remains stubbornly defiant after UN resolution

State backed media and government politicians have rallied together to condemn a resolution passed at the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, vowing to remain defiant.

Labelling the resolution “misconceived, unwarranted and ill-timed”, Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe, who led the Sri Lankan delegation in Geneva, slammed the resolution, and called out the United States, declaring,

The Hindu, on Geneva and India …

Extracts from the editorial Friday of The Hindu, which has hisotircally been a vocal supporter of President Rajapaksa’s regime and its predecessors:

“The wording of the resolution was tweaked by India to say the implementation assistance the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights will provide must be with Sri Lanka's 'concurrence'.

Yet, Colombo must not misread this concession.

HRW hails ‘important first step’, calls for close monitoring

Comments by Juliette De Rivero, advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, on the UN Human Rights Council’s resolution on Sri Lanka on Thursday:

“The Human Rights Council's vote demonstrates broad international dissatisfaction with Sri Lanka's accountability efforts in the three years since the end of the war.

“I will break your limbs in public!” – Minister threat to human rights activists

Sri Lankan Minister Mervyn Silva has threatened human rights activists who attended the 19th UN Human Rights Council Session in Geneva, where a resolution about Sri Lanka was adopted yesterday.

Speaking at a protest against the resolution on Friday, Silva singled out activists Sunila Abeysekara, Nimalka Fernando and Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu and journalists Sunanda Deshapriya and Poddala Jayantha for betraying Sri Lanka and threatened them with violence.

US eases restrictions on defence sales to Sri Lanka

The US state department has eased restrictions on defence exports to Sri Lanka on Thursday, the same day as the passing of a resolution on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council, AP reports.

Tensions between the countries are high, as Sri Lanka rejected the US-sponsored resolution and condemned the interference into what it says are internal matters.

The state department said that the move to lift some restrictions, namely the exports of equipment for aerial and maritime equipment, is unrelated to the resolution.