Several thousands of Tamils have gathered in Mullivaikkal today to mark Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. 

Mullivaikkal was the site of the final massacres which saw the deaths of tens of thousands of Tamils who were trapped in the Sri Lankan government designated 'No Fire Zones'. 

 

British Members of Parliament and political leaders have issued statements marking Mullivaikkal Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day, paying tribute to the tens of thousands of Tamils killed in May 2009 and renewing calls for justice, accountability, and peace.

Sri Lankan president Anura Kumara Dissanayake will not be attending Sri Lanka’s 16th ‘War Heroes’ commemoration ceremony on May 19, which takes place the day after Tamils commemorate the anniversary of the Mullivaikkal genocide.

Events took place across the Tamil homeland today to mark 16 years since tens of thousands of Tamils were massacred by Sri Lanka in a genocide at Mullivaikkal.

 

Vanni District Member of Parliament Thurairasa Ravikaran scattered flowers at Nandikadal lagoon this morning to mark the 16th anniversary of the Tamil genocide. 

Hundreds of thousands of Tamils attempted to flee across the Nandikadal lagoon towards Vadduvakkal in the final days of the armed conflict as the Sri Lankan armed forces closed in on them. 

To mark 16 years since the Sri Lankan military onslaught that massacred tens of thousands of Tamils, we revisit the final days leading up to the 18th of May 2009 – a date remembered around the world as ‘Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day’. 

Hundreds of Tamils living around the coastal town of Southend-on-Sea in England gathered on a beach at dusk on 17 May to remember their loved ones who perished in the Mullivaikkal genocide 16 years ago.

Sri Lankan police disrupted an event in Muthur, Trincomalee today which was organised to distribute Mullivaikkal kanji ahead of Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day.  

Tamils across the Eastern province served kanji in memory of the Tamils that perished at Mullivaikkal in 2009.