A commemorative event marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the 50th anniversary of the Vaddukoddai Resolution was held in Switzerland on 10 May under the theme “Unyielding Courage and Defiant Resurgence.”

The event, organised by the Swiss Tamil Coordinating Committee, took place in the canton of Bern and drew large numbers of Tamils from across Switzerland.

As Wes Streeting sets out to challenge Keir Starmer to become the next leader of the Labour party and Britain’s latest Prime Minister, British Tamils are looking back on his record of years of engagement on accountability, genocide remembrance and Tamil self-determination.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the historic Vaddukoddai Resolution,  a landmark declaration calling for the political independence of the Tamil nation.

The Vaddukoddai Resolution, spearheaded by SJV Chelvanayakam, was adopted by the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) on May 14, 1976. It remains a cornerstone of the Tamil for self-determination in Sri Lanka, concluding that an independent state of Tamil Eelam was needed to safeguard the very existence of the Tamil nation in Sri Lanka. 

On May 10, 2009, Catholic Priest Father Francis Joseph wrote to the Pope from inside the No Fire Zone, calling on the Church to break its silence on the massacre of Tamils.

We publish his letter in full below.

Father Joseph disappeared after surrendering to the Sri Lankan Army alongside hundred of LTTE cadres and high ranking LTTE officials in May 2009.

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To His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI,

 

The political landscape of Tamil Nadu is undergoing a dramatic shift as results from the 2026 Legislative Assembly elections point to a breakthrough performance by actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay and his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

A USD 2.5 million diversion from Sri Lanka’s Treasury, initially blamed on a cyber breach, has exposed deeper systemic failures in financial oversight, transparency and accountability, prompting calls for an independent investigation.

This week marks 17 years since thousands of British Tamils began a continuous 72-day occupation of Parliament Square in London on April 6 2009, as Sri Lanka intensified its military offensive that led to the Mullivaikkal genocide. 

An unprecedented number of British Tamils staged a sit in protest at Parliament Square following two weeks of protests outside the Houses of Parliament to demand international action to end the Sri Lankan government's war efforts which targeted civilians in the so-called 'No Fire Zones'. 

Rising prices, stagnant incomes and speculative demand drive exclusion, as economic shocks and shifting land ownership intensify fears across Tamil regions.

Iran's reported use of cluster munitions against Israel has placed these weapons back in the international spotlight. For Eelam Tamils, the conversation is not new.

Recently publicized documents from Israel’s Foreign Ministry from the mid-1980s reveal Israel’s extensive support for Sri Lanka during the beginning of the armed conflict, despite human rights concerns.