Sri Lanka’s security forces must stop harassing former LTTE cadres, the Northern Province Chief Minister has said.

Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran held talks with the EU’s Deputy Head of Delegation over a variety of topics but highlighted the problems especially faced by former fighters.

The chief minister said that the Sri Lankan army and police would use any security issue or crime in the North as an excuse to knock on the homes of former cadres for questioning and intimidation.

Ex-cadres face a multitude of problems and have struggled to reintegrate into society due to lack of care and resources, the chief minister said.

The Sri Lankan army has been intimidating Mullaitivu villagers ahead of a presidential visit.

Soldiers threatened Keppapilavu villagers against holding protests over land-returns during President Sirisena’s visit.

The villagers were told that if they protested and demanded their own lands back - instead of accepting the alternative lands or monetary compensation currently promised - they would be forced to remain in their displaced situations.

Keppapilavu villagers, currently living in temporary settlements, were expecting their lands to be returned during the upcoming presidential visit on the 25th January.

Sri Lanka’s military said that it will continue to occupy a military camp in Omanthai, contrary to earlier reports that the camp was to be dismantled and the land it occupied returned to its private landowners.

Sri Lankan military spokesperson Roshan Seneviratne was quoted by the Daily Mirror as stating the checkpoint would not be completely removed and the army was only releasing lands to the west of the camp.

“The army personnel there will be deployed at the army camp on the other side of the road,” he added. “It is not a sudden decision to vacate the land. The process of vacating the land had already begun.”

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein met with Sri Lanka’s prime minister in Switzerland, to discuss the island’s human rights situation.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met with the UN human rights chief on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday .

China's Alibaba company is keen to invest in Sri Lanka said the finance minister on Thursday. 

The finance minister, Ravi Karunanayake met with the online company's chairman, Jack Ma at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this week, the Colombo Page reported. 

"Jack Ma has said that he will take immediate action to start investment in Sri Lanka. He has also pointed out that his proposed investment will generate hundreds of employment opportunities to the youth in the island," the finance minister was quoted as saying.

The European Union in a statement reiterated that the only criteria by which Sri Lanka will be assessed to rejoin the GSP+ trade concessions are its ratification and implementation of 27 international conventions it has signed in the past.

The Sri Lankan government has dropped its own proposal to decriminalise homosexuality, which was included in its national human rights plan put forward to help regain the European Union’s GSP+ concession, reported the Deutsche Presse Agentur. Homosexuality is currently a criminal offence under Sri Lankan law.

"In view of the protests by members of the cabinet of ministers, as well as other groups, we have decided to drop the proposal," government spokesperson and Health Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratne said on Wednesday.

A human rights lawyer and activist was questioned by the Sri Lankan army after speaking to refugees at a Jaffna camp.

Mr Ainkaran was questioned by military personnel from the Kankesanthurai division, after speaking to internally displaced people living in Konappulam camp in Mallakam, Jaffna.

The soldiers also questioned the refugees Mr Ainkaran had spoken to, enquiring about his identity and what he had talked about.

The Sri Lankan government in Colombo does not listen to the views of the Northern Provincial Council, the Chief Minister has said.

“The central government does as it pleases in the Northern Province, but does not consider our opinions when engaging in activities,” NPC Chief Minister C. V. Wigneswaran told journalists.

The chief minister spoke to press following the presentation of a ferry by Australian emissaries, for a ferry service running to Neduntheevu, a project supported by the World Bank and the Australian government.

Chinese infrastructure projects have heavily burdened Sri Lanka, according to former military chief, Sarath Fonseka.