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Tamils in the North-East say they are “still living in an open prison,” reports Hannah Ellis-Petersen for The Guardian this week, highlighting imprisonment and torture on the island 13 years after the armed conflict ended.

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in Colombo earlier today as the island’s economy witnesses an unprecedented crisis in its independent history. 

Jaishankar is in Colombo for the fifth BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit on a three-day visit. 

As a token of solidarity with Ukraine, British Tamils are demonstrating outside the London Stock Exchange in protest of an event held by Invest Sri Lanka as they highlight the deep ties between Colombo and Moscow as well as Sri Lanka’s own dire human rights record.

“Russia’s blood money partner is in London” read one pamphlet.

Amidst a disastrous economic crisis, Invest Sri Lanka has removed a planned “investor forum” in Edinburgh from their website as concerns are raised over the country’s human rights record.

In a statement, Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa thanked China for its donation of 2,000 tonnes of rice amidst a disastrous economic crisis that has seen food shortages across the island.

The long-postponed meeting between President Gotabya Rajapaksa and the representatives of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) took place on Friday. 

The meeting started at 10.30 am at the Presidential Secretariat and lasted till 1.30 pm.

At the leadership of R. Sampanthan, a senior leader of the TNA, Senathirasa, the leader of the ITAK, and other MPs including MA Sumanthiran, R. Shanakiyan, Charles Nirmalanathan, Shritharan Sivagnanam and Kalaiyarasan were also present at the meeting.

Sri Lankan officials have finally admitted that they will seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week with reports claiming that Colombo will also look to the Word Bank as the island braces for further economic hardship in the months ahead.

Sri Lanka’s Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivaar Cabraal however told an all-party conference in Colombo yesterday that though they were going to the IMF, his government remains wary.

At least 16 Eelam Tamils have been detained by Indian authorities after fleeing the island this week, citing the worsening economic crisis in Sri Lanka as a factor that forced them to leave.

The 16 Tamils, who arrived in two groups, included women and children with the youngest being just 4 months old. They all come from the North-East, arriving in India on Tuesday 22 March. The mother of the four-month old child said "We can't live there, the prices of everything have increased; that's why we came here". Her husband added: "There are no work opportunities there ... a day's wages is low there".

Valikamam East Pradeshiya Sabha chairperson Thiyagaraja Nirosh and Chavakachcheri Pradeshiya Sabha deputy chairperson Selvaratnam Mayuran have been summoned to Chavakachcheri police station today for questioning for joining Tamil families of the disappeared at a rally opposing the Prime Minister's visit. 

Fuel shortages have caused long queues to form in Vavuniya, causing petrol stations to implement a limit on fuel purchases. 

Families and farmers were seen queuing for long periods of time to purchase kerosene with purchase limits being imposed. At one petrol station in Vavuniya, only 1000 LKR per card for a family was allowed to be purchased whilst at another the figure was 500 LKR.