The British government said that it “carefully consider(s) our engagement with individuals accused of human rights violations against the operational urgency and essential nature of the discussion,” when questioned on its engagement with Sri Lanka last week.

Responding to a question from Thangam Debbonaire, Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, James Heappey, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, said that “our Defence Engagement programme with Sri Lanka is to encourage the development of a modern, accountable and human rights compliant military”.

A sword attack in Jaffna has left two people hospitalised with serious injuries. 

An unknown group of persons reportedly broke into a house close to Neerveli junction around 8pm last Wednesday (30^th September), attacking a 30-year-old man, P. Siva, and his 50-year-old mother Renuka, who tried to save him. The assault was carried out using swords, rods and sharp weapons. 

Across the Tamil homeland, decades of armed conflict had already taken a heavy toll. Yet, more than 11 years since the massacres at Mullivaikkal, alongside the massive loss of life and the ongoing militarisation across Eelam, many continue to live in dire poverty. More than 11 years since the massacres at Mullivaikkal, we take a look at one town in Mullaitivu, which highlights how for the Tamil people the suffering has not stopped.

Families of the disappeared in Mannar conveyed their disappointment in both the Sri Lankan government and the international community’s response to their struggle to find their missing loved ones, stating that the recent Children’s day was marked as a "day of mourning” without their children.

Writing in “The Caravan”, Amita Arudpragasam, highlights how increasing militarisation, war loss, and social pressures are increasing the burden on “Tamil women [...] to marry at any cost, which usually means an expensive dowry”

Gotabaya Rajapaksa has an issued a new gazette notification taking over several state institutions.

1.Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka and Allied Institutions

2. Information and Communication Technology Agency and Allied Institutions

3. Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team

4. Colombo Port City Project

6. Sri Lanka Telecom and its Subsidiaries and Allied Institutions

7. All Information Technology Parks.

A recent discovery of one thousand nine hundred and four Ancient Pandyan coins in Mannar has brought up archaeological interest from Tamil academics and professionals on the island, but has led to some Sinhalese archaeologists claiming that they coins are from a Sinhala-based lineage.

An archaeology field study of the coins was carried out by Jaffna University senior History professor P. Pushparatnam, Jaffna Fort Reconstruction Officer P. Kapilan, Jaffna Fort Excavation Officer V.Manimaran and archaeology graduates S. Dasinthan and K. Kirikaran.

Sri Lankan army officials threatened Tamil families of the disappeared in Mullaitivu, as they prepared to stage a protest to mark Children’s Day on Thursday.

As preparations were being made for the Children’s day protest the night before (September 30^th), two military officials threatened the head of the Mullaitivu Missing Persons' Association, Mariyasuresh Easwary at her house and demanded information about the protest.

Eleven years since Mullivaikal, the end of Sri Lanka’s armed conflict in which tens of thousands of Tamils were massacred by the military at the behest of the state authorities, Sri Lanka is no closer to delivering transitional justice to the Tamil people or bringing war criminals to justice, writes Professor Kate Cronin-Furman, in the Foreign Affairs magazine.

“In its rush to celebrate Sirisena’s election as the dawn of a new democratic era in Sri Lanka, international actors facilitated the entrenchment of impunity and squandered a chance to protect vulnerable people,” writes Cronin-Furman.

Whilst the previous government led by Sirisena put up a veneer of commitment towards ensuring accountability, the current Rajapaksa administration with their “unassailable mandate for their Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist politics and militaristic governing style spells disaster for human rights in Sri Lanka,” she adds.