<p>Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian M A Sumanthiran has called on the speaker of Sri Lanka’s parliament not to recognise Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Leader of the Opposition, in a letter that was also sent to the European Union, the Commonwealth, the UN Secretary-General and the heads of Foreign Missions in Colombo.</p> <p>Sumanthiran stated that the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) “cannot be considered as a party in Opposition since the Leader of the UPFA is the Head of Government and the Head of the Cabinet of Ministers”.</p>

The Sri Lankan army constructed yet another building in Jaffna earlier this month, as the military continues to consolidate its presence in the region.

A court in Melbourne has rejected the asylum appeal of a Tamil family of four, including two young children, ruling that they will be deported to Sri Lanka in 2019.

Justice John Middleton dismissed the family’s appeal on Friday, but said he would delay their deportation “having regard to the time of year”.

More than 147,000 Australians have signed a petition calling on Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to halt the deportation, stating that “the life awaiting this family in Sri Lanka is uncertain”.

<p>Tamil employees of the Civil Security Department (CSD) in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu have accused department officials of corruption to the scale of 500 million Rupees (2.7million USD).</p> <p>An employee at the CSD made the accusations at a press conference in Kilinochchi, claiming they had made complaints to several relevant authorities to no avail and were no going public with their complaints.</p> <p>The employee also said that at CSD farms, employees were vulnerable to exploitation, as the majority were former LTTE cadres or disabled war victims.</p>

The commander of the Sri Lankan army in the East and other senior military officials attended a pre-school concert in Trincomalee earlier this month, as the military continued to exercise its involvement in civilian activities in the North-East.

<p>The former LTTE cadres currently detained in connection with the murders of two police officers in Batticaloa are being scapegoated while the real perpetrators roam free, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP has said.</p> <p>Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Batticaloa representative G Sirinesan said those being targeted by police and security forces were innocent, while the killers were still at large.</p> <p>Earlier this month, Sirinesan had said that the killings in Vavunathivu was an act to incite racism and create problems for the Tamil people.</p>

The Sri Lankan military continued with its militarisation of the North-East by involving itself in Christmas proceedings in the Jaffna peninsula this week, in the face of continued criticism from locals.

<p>The international community should set up an accountability mechanism for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka “without delay”, said C V WIigneswaran the former Chief Minister of the Northern Provincial Council, just days after Sri Lanka’s president reiterated his opposition to any accountability for war crimes.</p> <p>"I am not saying that there should be two laws – one for the Sinhalese and another for the Tamils,” Wigneswaran <a href="http://island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&amp;page=article-de…">told reporters on Sunday</a>. “But it can be seen that the Tamils are the community which suffered most from the war. Therefore, it is natural for them to harbour doubts about the rulings given by the Sri Lankan courts with regard to the war crimes.”</p> <p>"The government forces should not be afraid of our insistence on international input into the war crimes’ inquiry if they had not committed any war crimes,” he added. “Instead, they should welcome the opportunity to clear their names and support us in this move.”</p>

<p>Nine Tamil youths, arrested in Jaffna on Monday for alleged involvement in sword attacks, were refused bail when they appeared before Mallakam Magistrate Court.&nbsp;</p> <p>The nine youths were ordered to be held in remand for 14 days.&nbsp;</p> <p>Chunnakam police claimed to have recovered six swords and one motorbike from the youths.&nbsp;</p> <p>Local residents have questioned how gang violence can be taking place without any army involvement when military officers and police remained deployed across the North-East.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A Sri Lankan army officer helped 6 other Sinhalese men in the attempted abduction of an elderly Tamil man in Jaffna on Tuesday for allegedly owing them money.&nbsp;</p> <p>The elderly man was saved when locals caught sight of the abduction attempt and intervened. Three men escaped, however four were caught by local residents and handed over to the police.&nbsp;</p> <p>According to locals, the three men who escaped were also military personnel from the Iyakkachchi army camp.&nbsp;</p>