United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon admitted the global body made “big mistakes” and could have saved “many more human lives” during the final phase of the island's bloody armed conflict in 2009, where tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were massacred at the hands of Sri Lankan security forces.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in a meeting on Friday in Jaffna that he fully realises the Tamil people's expectation of justice and that it must include international involvement, the TNA's spokesperson, M A Sumanthiran told reporters after the meeting. 

Tamils in the North-East gathered outside the public library in Jaffna on Friday as the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon visited to raise awareness of their plight. 

Reiterating their central demands of international justice for mass atrocities, end to the military occupation of their lands, release of Tamil political prisoners, repeal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and to find out the whereabouts of their missing loved ones, Tamils gathered carrying banners and placards, and called on the UN to make the Sri Lankan government to act.

The demonstration took place despite a number of armed Sri Lankan military personnel being deployed to the area along with a full-scale police presence. 

The ongoing crisis in Syria shows the dilemmas faced by humanitarian agencies and their “persistent deficiencies in response” said the Guardian in an editorial on Tuesday, urging the international community to learn lessons from Sri Lanka.

“In November 2012, an internal report into the shortcomings of the United Nations in the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka urged: never again,” said the Guardian. “The secretary general embraced it, speaking frankly about the UN’s failure to meet its responsibilities and the need to learn lessons.”

UN member states and Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon must ensure the Sri Lankan government feels the “right combination of encouragement and pressure needed to deepen and sustain the potentially historic transformation,” said Alan Keenan in a piece for Inside Story.

“UN agencies are actively supporting the Sirisena government’s reform agenda, but government efforts have been under-resourced and weakened by mixed messages and confused lines of authority,” said Mr Keenan, senior Sri Lankan analyst at the ICG.

“Clear direction from the president and from prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been lacking.”

The United Nations Secretary-General has been urged to “send a strong message to the Government of Sri Lanka” that it cannot fail to meet commitments to over accountability for human rights atrocities.

“The Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka in 2015 is widely held up as one of the Council’s greatest achievements but to be a true success, Ban needs to use the authority of his office during this visit to help move this political agreement from words to action,” said Ann Hannah, International Advocate at Freedom from Torture.

Tamils in Malaysia held a protest on Thursday against the former Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to the country for the Asian Political Parties summit during September 1 - 4.  

Burning an effigy of the former president, protesters decried him as a war criminal who had massacred Tamils in Sri Lanka. 

Photograph: Adaderana.lk

Dozens of Sinhalese protestors had to be dispersed by Sri Lankan police as they demonstrated against UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon in Colombo today, as he embarked on a visit of the island this week.

Mr Ban arrived on Wednesday evening to Sri Lanka, following a visit to Myanmar to embark on his visit of the island. 

As he visited the UN office, Sinhala protesters gathered outside, condemning the UN's push for accountability for mass atrocities committed during the final stages of the armed conflict. 

The Sri Lankan Campaign called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to demand Sri Lanka provide a “full and proper reckoning” for human rights abuses, as he landed on the island on Wednesday.

Campaign Director of the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice Fred Carver wrote to the secretary general ahead of his visit, stating that “Sri Lanka’s transition from armed conflict to a lasting and a sustainable peace is far from complete, and it is important to maintain the high level of international pressure and scrutiny necessary to see it through”.