Features

Features

Latest news from and about the homeland

From Mullivaikkal to the Foreign Office – Ed Miliband’s record on Tamils and Sri Lanka
Miliband speaking at British Tamil event at the Houses of Parliament in 2013. Ed Miliband, appointed Foreign Secretary on Monday in Prime Minister Andy Burnham's first cabinet reshuffle, arrives at the Foreign Office with a longer record on Tamil affairs than almost any of his predecessors. During his time as Labour leader between 2010 and 2015, Miliband issued statements marking Mullivaikkal…

Remembering the Sencholai massacre 19 years on

Aug 14, 2025
Today marks the 19th anniversary of the massacre of 53 school girls by the Sri Lankan Air Force. 

UN report condemns Sri Lanka’s ‘entrenched’ impunity

Aug 13, 2025
A new report from the United Nations Human Rights Office has called on the Sri Lankan government to address the “human rights violations and international crimes” as well as the “root causes” of the island’s ethnic conflict – but stopped short of endorsing a fully internationalised accountability mechanism.

Beaten, disappeared, dumped: Inside the killing of Kapilraj

Aug 12, 2025
Eyewitness testimonies detail the final hours of a Tamil man who was killed after a Sri Lankan army assault

French MPs call for international investigation into mass graves and war crimes in Sri Lanka

Jul 30, 2025
A group of French parliamentarians have issued a joint statement calling for an independent international investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Tamils in Sri Lanka, following the recent discovery of mass graves in the North-East.

North-East unites in call for international probe into Tamil genocide

Jul 28, 2025

Protest across north east

Widespread protests were held across the North-East this weekend as Tamil families of the disappeared, civil society organisations, and human rights defenders rallied to demand an international, independent investigative mechanism into the genocide committed against the Tamil people.

Explainer: Another mass grave and the 1990 Sampur Massacres 

Jul 25, 2025
Following the discovery of another set of human remains in Sampur this week, just metres from where at least 57 Tamil civilians were murdered by Sri Lankan government forces in July 1990, we re-examine the massacres.

Remembering Black July 42 years on

Jul 23, 2025
Today marks 42 years since the horrors of the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983, when thousands of Tamils were killed by Sinhala mobs backed by the then UNP government and state forces.

India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to acquire Colombo Dockyard in landmark deal

Jul 18, 2025
India’s state-owned Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) is set to acquire a controlling stake in Sri Lanka’s largest maritime facility, the Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC), marking the first-ever international acquisition by an Indian shipbuilding firm.

Horror in Vankalai: The 2006 massacre of a Tamil family and the quest for justice

Jul 13, 2025
Last month marked 19 years since the one of the most gruesome murders of a Tamil family by the Sri Lankan military. We look back on the events of the murder and the struggle to find justice for it.

‘Bombs rolling in the air’ - Remembering the Navaly church massacre

Jul 9, 2025

On this day 30 years ago, the Sri Lankan air force dropped 13 bombs on St Peter’s Church in Navaly. More than 140 sheltering Tamils, who were encouraged by the military to seek refuge at the church, were killed on the spot.  At least 13 children were amongst the dead, with many more succumbing to injuries later as the local hospital was swamped with the wounded.

At approximately 4:30 pm on July 9, 1995, the St Peter’s Church in Navaly and the nearby Sri Kathirgama Murugan Kovil, which were both sheltering displaced Tamils from army bombardment, was attacked.

‘Bombs rolling in the air’

Remembering the Sencholai massacre 19 years on
UN report condemns Sri Lanka’s ‘entrenched’ impunity
Beaten, disappeared, dumped: Inside the killing of Kapilraj
French MPs call for international investigation into mass graves and war crimes in Sri Lanka
North-East unites in call for international probe into Tamil genocide
Explainer: Another mass grave and the 1990 Sampur Massacres 
Remembering Black July 42 years on
India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to acquire Colombo Dockyard in landmark deal
Horror in Vankalai: The 2006 massacre of a Tamil family and the quest for justice
‘Bombs rolling in the air’ - Remembering the Navaly church massacre
Remembering the Sencholai massacre 19 years on
UN report condemns Sri Lanka’s ‘entrenched’ impunity
Beaten, disappeared, dumped: Inside the killing of Kapilraj
French MPs call for international investigation into mass graves and war crimes in Sri Lanka
North-East unites in call for international probe into Tamil genocide
Explainer: Another mass grave and the 1990 Sampur Massacres 
Remembering Black July 42 years on
India’s Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to acquire Colombo Dockyard in landmark deal
Horror in Vankalai: The 2006 massacre of a Tamil family and the quest for justice
‘Bombs rolling in the air’ - Remembering the Navaly church massacre