Tamil families of the disappeared staged a protest in Vavuniya on Saturday (30), insisting that they do not need financial compensation but justice and an international investigation to uncover the fate of their forcibly disappeared loved ones.
The demonstration was held in front of the Vavuniya Old Bus Stand, where more than 50 relatives gathered carrying photographs of family members who were forcibly disappeared during and after the armed conflict.
Protesters rejected financial assistance said to be provided through Sri Lanka’s Office on Missing Persons (OMP), insisting that monetary compensation could not replace truth, accountability, and answers regarding the whereabouts of their relatives.
“We do not need funds, we need justice,” demonstrators declared, calling for an internationally-led investigation into enforced disappearances and demanding that the Sri Lankan state reveal the fate of their relatives.
Participants held placards and banners expressing their demands, including calls for international involvement in efforts to establish accountability for enforced disappearances.
The protest forms part of the long-running campaign by Tamil families across the North-East who continue to seek answers regarding thousands of enforced disappearances. Families of the disappeared have repeatedly rejected domestic mechanisms, including the OMP, arguing that such institutions have failed to deliver truth or accountability.
