Sri Lanka's Forest Department is alleged to have facilitated the illegal trade of timber across the North-East, particularly forested areas in Mullaitivu which have been targeted by illegal loggers leading to high rates of deforestation within the area. 

Teak trees cut in the Murrippu, in the Mullaitivu district, are reportedly transported to the Nahacholai forest area and sold by smugglers.

Marking 38 years since the horrors of Black July, the People for Equality and Relief for in Lanka (PEARL) renewed calls for justice and reflected on the "indelible impact of this genocide committed against Tamil people."

In a statement, the US-based organisation highlighted that the violent massacres of Black July, which took over 3,000 Tamil lives and forced more than 50,000 Tamils to flee the island, was "systematic and intentional genocide."

Demonstration were carried out in Jaffna, Amparai, Vavuniya and Mannar to mark the 38^th anniversary of Black July, paying tribute to the thousands of Tamil lives lost during the state-sponsored anti-Tamil pogroms of 1983.  

British Tamils gathered outside Downing Street to mark the 38th anniversary of Black July, when thousands of Tamils were killed by Sinhala mobs backed by the Sri Lankan state. 

LIVE - British Tamils mark 38th anniversary of Black July outside Downing Street pic.twitter.com/WCnf6LpTuK

Today marks 20 years since a team of 14 LTTE commandos infiltrated and attacked the Sri Lankan Air Force Base in Katunayake, destroying several aircraft and causing over US$500 million worth of damage without a single civilian fatality.

Marking the 38th anniversary of the Black July massacre in which over 3,000 Tamils were slaughtered, Canada’s Prime Minister and senior parliamentarians marked the memorial by demanding accountability for human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put out an official statement commemorating the "horrific events".

Marking the 38^th anniversary of the Black July massacre in which over 3,000 Tamils were slaughtered, German Tamils gathered in the city centre of Berlin to remember this act of genocide.

This week a Jaffna court ordered the complete release of five Tamils who had been detained for 93 days after the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID)  notified the court that there were 'no charges to file against them'. 

The five Tamils had been arrested by the TID on charges of 'trying to recreate the LTTE' and had then been subsequently detained for 93 days without charge under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Four of those detained were from Jaffna and one was from Mullaitivu.

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, remembered the “victims of the horrific events” of Black July, which took the lives of thousands of Tamils 38 years ago. 

“In July 1983, longstanding tensions and unrest culminated in anti-Tamil pogroms in Colombo and across Sri Lanka, plunging the country into a 26-year-long armed conflict. The conflict killed tens of thousands of people, forced many into exile, and left lasting wounds in communities across the country,” Trudeau said in a statement. 

Protesters in Jaffna marked the 38th anniversary of Black July, the horrific anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983 when thousands of Tamils were killed by Sinhala mobs backed by the then UNP government and state forces.