This week marks 17 years since thousands of British Tamils began a continuous 72-day occupation of Parliament Square in London on April 6 2009, as Sri Lanka intensified its military offensive that led to the Mullivaikkal genocide. 

An unprecedented number of British Tamils staged a sit in protest at Parliament Square following two weeks of protests outside the Houses of Parliament to demand international action to end the Sri Lankan government's war efforts which targeted civilians in the so-called 'No Fire Zones'. 

A protest was held in Jaffna to demand justice for a Tamil teenager who was shot dead by Sri Lankan police earlier this month. 

British Tamil students and youth organisations have expressed widespread outrage after Namal Rajapaksa was invited to address the Oxford Union and the Cambridge Union next week, with plans for protests already underway across the United Kingdom.