Responding to a question posed by Baroness Richie of Downpatrick, Lord Ahmad, Britain's Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth, maintained that Sri Lanka is a “human rights priority country for the UK.

His statement highlighted issues of “increased harassment of civil society, the militarisation of civilian functions, and the government's withdrawal of support for the UN Human Rights Council resolution”.

The European Union has announced that it will provide Sri Lanka 22 million euros in aid, targeting the health, agriculture, and tourism industries, despite concerns that Sri Lanka has abandoned its commitments to human rights under the co-sponsored UNHRC resolution 30/1.

This aid was agreed upon following a meeting on the 8 April 2020 between the Ambassador of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, and Sri Lanka’s Task Force Chair Basil Rajapaksa.

_{SL Mass Media Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella,}

Sri Lanka’s Mass Media Minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, says the government plans to register local users of all social media platforms, insisting that social media needs to be regulated to curb inappropriate digital content the country.

An undetonated mortar shell was recovered in Vavuniya by Sri Lankan authorities on Tuesday.

The Sri Lankan State Intelligence Service was informed by local sources that explosive shell devices had been discovered in a field.

Sri Lanka High Commissioner to Pakistan, vice-admiral Mohan Wijewickrema, has held discussions with Pakistan’s Navy chief Admiral Amjad Niazi over maritime security and bilateral cooperation.

Meeting with Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the UK, Saroja Sirisena, UK Trade Minister, Mervyn Davies raised concerns over Sri Lanka’s policy of forced cremations and denial of religious rights to Muslims.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has spoken out against Sri Lanka’s policy of forced cremations, describing it as “violation of their fundamental rights”.

TNA spokesman M.A. Sumanthiran released a statement maintaining that:

“The denial of the right of the Muslim people to dispose of their dead bodies in keeping with the tenets of their religion is a violation of their fundamental right and should not continue,”

Art by Shaumya

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam told Sri Lanka’s parliament that Tamil voices would ‘not be destroyed’ in a fiery address earlier this month, as refought off several interruptions from Sinhala lawmakers.

Tamil lawmakers from across the different political parties have written to Sri Lanka’s president, calling for the release of Tamil political prisoners.

The parliamentarians, 15 from across the island and from various political parties, said that more than 80 political prisoners had been arrested from 1994 until 2009 and “are being confined for a long period in prisons”.

Amongst them are those who have been “detained without any judicial trial” said the letter.