Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary, Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyacontha, met with Pakistan’s Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, in Islamabad this week on the sidelines of the 5th Sri Lanka-Pakistan Bilateral Defence Dialogue, the Sri Lankan government announced. The meeting took place on Tuesday 29 April, the second day of the three-day dialogue, which aims to enhance defence cooperation…

Tamil refugees trapped in Togo

Around 200 tamil refugees who have fled from Sri Lanka have found themselves stranded in the West African country of Togo, where they are now held by the army, reported the BBC.

The refugees, who include at least 19 women and 11 children, are being detained in an open stadium in the capital of Lome, where they are held under tight security.

US official arrives in Sri Lanka to discuss Iranian sanctions

The United States Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Luke Bronin visited Sri Lanka on Thursday to discuss Sri Lanka’s options, as US sanctions on Iran look set to cut off Sri Lanka’s crude oil imports.

The US Embassy stated that Bronin’s visit was to “discuss how the Iranian sanction legislation will affect Sri Lankan financial institutions and to discuss the legislation and its implementation.”

Sri Lanka scrambles for US support ahead of UN meeting

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa has stated that he wants to send a delegation to the United States of America in order to gain support before the UN Human Rights Council meeting in March.

The Daily Mirror reported that as the US has already announced it would back a resolution against Sri Lanka at the upcoming session, Rajapaksa insisted that engagement with the Americans was important.

He reportedly told a cabinet meeting,

British MPs urge action on Sri Lanka

At a recent debate in the House of Commons, British MPs urged the British government to ‘speak out loudly’ and raise human rights issues in Sri Lanka with the UN and other organisations.

Labour MP Kerry McCarthy called for a debate in the House of Commons about the controversial LLRC report.

Boycott blues

Dismissing the recent boycott of Sri Lankan goods but activists in Tamil Nadu, an official of Sri Lanka's Deputy High Commission to India, drew attention to the lack of an apology from Tamil Nadu state government.

The official added,

Only Parliamentary Select Committee will decide on devolution - Rajapaksa

Any decision of system of devolution will only be determined by a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) said Sri Lanka's president, Mahinda Rajapaksa:

“I had told Krishna that I had no objection to going beyond the 13th Amendment, and that I had said so earlier too. However, I added that I could not take a decision on the matter arbitrarily."

"The PSC, in which all parties in parliament would be represented, was the best forum to discuss and take a decision on the matter.”

HRW urges UNHRC to act on Sri Lanka during March session

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the UN Human Rights Council to act against the continued lack of accountability for abuses committed in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan stock exchange ‘second worst in the world’

The Colombo stock exchange, the best-performing stock market of 2009, has slumped to become the second-worst, only just ahead of Bangladesh.

The table, compiled by Bespoke Investment Group, looks at year to date stock market returns for 78 countries.

Sri Lanka’s bourse saw the second biggest loss of -7.94% compared to last year, placing them 77th on the list.

The Island blames the slump on over regulation and quoted brokers as saying that a lack of foreign inflows is also to blame for the lack of growth.

Time to put principles into action at UN Human Rights Council

Louise Arbour, President and CEO of the International Crisis Group and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, writes a piece entitled “Tamils await their peace dividend”, for the Globe and Mail.

Extracts have been reproduced below. See the full piece here.

Sri Lanka’s killing fields are ‘beyond the boundary’

Ahead of the English Cricket team’s planned tour of Sri Lanka in March, former Member of European Parliament Robert Evans has written in the Tribune Magazine, calling on the tour to be cancelled and for a full independent international investigation into war crimes.

See the full piece here. Extracts have been reproduced below.

"The reality is somewhat different and in truth, there is probably no worse or more dangerous time for an England team to travel to this troubled and divided nation."

"The case to cancel the tour is augmented in the light of Jon Snow’s ‘Sri Lanka’s Killing Fields’"

"Despite being faced with the ‘evidence’ in this video, authenticated by the UN, the Sri Lankan Government has dismissed the tapes as fabricated and refuses to initiate a proper investigation or take any action against the accused soldiers."

"But neither the international community nor the International Cricket Council should accept this position... An England cricket team should not tour a country where the Government stands accused of such appalling atrocities and refuses to investigate them."

"Apologists for apartheid claimed then that politics and sport were completely separate, and that the internal politics of South Africa were nothing to do with cricket. Nelson Mandela being imprisoned for 27 years because for the colour of his skin was not for some, a reason to isolate South Africa from international cricket."

"Fast forward forty years and there are few people who will argue that Mike Gatting, Graham Gooch and their rebel tours helped the cause. Likewise those who condone apartheid today are silent, dangerous and very few in number."

"In the light of this international condemnation, it would be naive and provocative at the very least, for Andrew Strauss or anyone else to lead an England team to play tests in Colombo and Galle. With perhaps as many as six of the possible England team being South African born, the politics and sport arguments will be familiar to them."