The Sri Lankan government claimed to have made “significant progress in some key areas” at the UN Human Rights Council this week, where foreign minister G L Peiris met with the president of the council and requested “space for the country to deal with the present socio-economic issues”.

“We certainly recognize, as a core belief, that human rights are indivisible, interconnected and interdependent,” claimed Peiris in his address to the Council.

Newly elected Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, met with the Nadesalingam family and welcomed them back into the Biloela community after several years in Australian detention.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, G.L Periris visited Singapore where discussions around investments and financing were held with officials.

During the visit last week, G.L Peiris met with the Minister for Foreign affairs of Singapore Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Finance Lawrence Wong, Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam and Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran. 

The head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee wrote to India, Japan, Australia and the US this week, calling on the states to “take a more proactive role in addressing Sri Lanka’s political and economic crisis”.

US Senator Bob Menendez congratulated US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on the completion of the Quad  Leaders’ Summit, adding that “there is much more the Quad can and should do in the Indian Ocean neighborhood, starting with Sri Lanka”.

The mother of a Tamil political prisoner who has been imprisoned for over 26 years has passed away this week, having never seen her son released from a Sri Lankan jail.

Vigneswaranathan Parthiban was arrested aged just 19 years old, over his alleged involvement in the 1996 Central Bank Bombing. He has spent more time in prison than outside it.

His mother Vakeeswari had campaigned tirelessly for her son to be released or pardoned. She passed away on Wednesday evening.

The ambassadors of both the US and China met in Colombo last week, where they reportedly “had a friendly discussion on broad topics of mutual interest”.

Both countries tweeted about the meeting, where US Ambassador Julie Chung and China’s Ambassador Qi Zhenhong spoke on Sri Lanka.

China said the meeting was a “friendly discussion on broad topics of mutual interest”.

“#China and the #UnitedStates could work together to help #SriLanka overcome current difficulties,” it added.

The Core Group on Sri Lanka told the UN Human Rights Council that they are "deeply concerned" by the violent attacks on anti-government protesters that broke out last month and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable. 

In a statement, the Core Group made up of Canada, Germany, Malawi, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the UK and the United States, said: 

International human rights organisation, Front Line Defenders, said they are "extremely concerned about continuing reprisals" against Tamil journalist and human rights defender Kanapathipillai Kumanan after he was recently intimidated by a Sri Lankan naval officer. 

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on Sri Lanka to “focus on deeper institutional reforms” as she cited the country as an example of regions where economic crises have impacted on human rights.

The Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, plans to visit Sri Lanka upon receiving an invitation from Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as the crisis on the island worsens.

According to Wickremesinghe, due to its economic crisis, Sri Lanka will soon face a food shortage. Experts have warned that essential food items will be in short supply come September this year.