Koneshwaran Krishnapillai, a Tamil refugee and father of three, has died after setting himself on fire on Friday, following years of uncertainty regarding his immigration status in Australia. 

The 38 year old, who was denied a protection visa by the Australian immigration department in 2018, "was constantly worried about being deported back to danger," according to the Tamil Refugee Council.

Following attempted suicides by Eelam Tamil refugees detained in a “Special Camp” in Trichy Central Jail last week, a committee of Tamil Americans has written a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, urging him to release the detainees. 

Meena Ilancheyan, President of the Tamil Americans United Political Action Committee (PAC), said in the letter that the refugees have been going through “mental agitation, agony and pushed to desperation” as their repeated attempts to secure their release failed. 

Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested the Chief Secretary of the Jathika Sevaka Sangamaya of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, Ananda Palitha, after he issued a warning over the country’s fuel shortage.

^{Isolation bed}

Patients at the Vavuniya isolation centre have complained of inadequate facilities used for the treatment of quarantined individuals. 

Following the capture of Afghanistan by the Taliban, Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapaksa, met with the Afghan Ambassador to Sri Lanka, M. Ashraf Haidari, to offer the country’s full support, “consistent with the strong Afghanistan-Sri Lanka friendship and growing bilateral relations”.

Residents of Alambil North, a village near Karaithuraipattu in Mullaitivu district, expressed their concerns over growing deforestation in their land earlier this week. 

They wrote slogans on the road between Mullaitivu and Mankulam using yellow paint, opposing the destruction of forests in their homeland. 

(Photo of Gotabaya Rajapaksa meeting with senior Buddhist clergy 2019)

Following repeated calls from the healthcare profession, opposition parties, and trade unions, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced a 10-day lockdown after receiving a request from the Sinhala Buddhist monk Mahanayake.

The nationwide lockdown came into force from 10 pm 20 August and will last until 30 August. The announcement comes as COVID-19 infections in Sri Lanka continue to rise, reaching an average COVID-related daily death toll of over 160 and 4,693 new infections each day. However, there is a great deal of uncertainty over reported figures as military and health officials stand accused of distorting data to deliberately underplay the impact of the pandemic. 

Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister, Udaya Gammanpila, has denied that the country was facing a fuel crisis as panic buying of petrol surged in Sri Lanka and as he encouraged motorists to use fuel sparingly.

NO FUEL SHORTAGE.

I have repeatedly stated that if there was a fuel shortage, I would have told the nation before anybody else. I have always been truthful to the people and informed in advance about the price hike. The first to announce about the foreign currency crisis.

Photo by Feng Yongbin - China Daily

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has rejected 13 articles of the controversial Finance Amendment Bill submitted by Minister of Finance, Basil Rajapaksa, as “unconstitutional”.

In announcing this decision, the Speaker of the Parliament, Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, maintained that Article 17 should be removed entirely and that several articles must be amended. Only after these amendments are made can the bill pass with a simple majority without the measure violating the Constitution.