Sri Lankan president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, stressed the need for correct media practices in order to “help preserve Sri Lankan identity and cultural values” during a meeting with the Independent Television Network (ITN) last week.

The meeting, which also examined the current position of ITN and its future strategies, was attended by a number of Board Directors and high ranking ITN representatives.

Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa claimed his government “has not received a single dollar from the World Bank and other organisations”, despite hundreds of millions of dollars being pledged internationally for Colombo amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

Rajapaksa made the comments during a meeting with officials of the Sri Lankan film industry and cinema owners at Temple Trees.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister and war criminal, Mahinda Rajapaksa appealed for a moratorium on debt from international lenders during a meeting with the United Nations and UNICEF.

During this meeting, Rajapaksa was reported to have discussed strengthening Sri Lanka’s social security system to reduce the economic impact of the on the most vulnerable communities including those differently abled, the elderly, and children. Rajapaksa claimed that the Government of Sri Lanka has always prioritised the rights and needs of children.

Speaking with People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL), both Sinthujan Varatharajah, an expert political geographer, and Thanges Paramsothy, a renowned anthropologist, gave enlightening discussions on the nature and continued presence of caste as well the history of resistance to it.

At age seven, I joined the Jaffna Library as a member of its children’s section. Every Saturday my friend and I would take orange juice and beetroot and Kraft cheese sandwiches, and go with her mother, then English teacher at Vembadi Girls School, to the library.

The US State Department said it had received “isolated reports of officials allegedly complicit in trafficking and reports of inadequate investigations” as it kept Sri Lanka on its Tier 2 Watch List on the Country Trafficking Scale, in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report.

The report notes that the Sri Lankan government continues in its failure to meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is “making significant efforts to do so”. However, it went on to state the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period. 

Commemorating International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Pink News has interviewed a Tamil refugee and dancer who shared with them his experience of recovering from trauma, surviving as a refugee, and discovering his sexuality.

File photograph: US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court has ruled in a landmark decision for the expedient removal of Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, a Tamil asylum seeker from Sri Lanka.

According to the Court’s ruling, asylum seekers will not be required to be given a hearing in federal court before being removed if they cannot prove their initial claim. This judgement has raised concern from the civil liberty and human rights advocated as they maintain that it sets a dangerous precedent.

Sri Lankan security forces have reportedly arrested at least two people and carried out raids in Jaffna over the last week, stating that they have discovered guns and explosives in the region.

The army and police carried out a three-hour search of approximately 40 homes in Valvettithurai, after reports of explosives and a gun being discovered in a well. An arrest warrant was subsequently issued, with reports that two Tamils have been arrested.