The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement on Saturday commemorating the anniversary of Black July alongside "Canadians of Tamil descent" and the "Tamil community around the world".

"Let us pause to remember the victims of the anti-Tamil pogroms and all the lives that were lost throughout the entirety of the Sri Lankan Civil War," Mr Trudeau said. He offered his "deepest condolences" to those who lost family and friends.

Hundreds of Tamil Canadians gathered in Toronto on Saturday to commemorate thirty-three years since the Black July pogrom, where thousands of Tamils were massacred by Sinhala mobs.

An 8 year old boy has been found dead in a well in Vavuniya on Friday, reports Hiru News.

The boy, who has not yet been named, was initially reported missing by his parents when he failed to return home from school. His body was discovered in a well in the Mundimuruppu area on Friday night.

A post mortem is due to be held on Saturday.

Whilst the human rights situation in Sri Lanka has improved, “much remains to be done” said the United Kingdom in a country update report, highlighting the challenges faced in the Tamil North-East.

In its report the UK highlighted that “much remains to be done for Sri Lanka to fulfil the commitments made in Resolution 30/1 at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in October 2015”.

“Challenges still remain, particularly in the north and the east,” continued the report.

Acknowledging Sri Lankan government announcements on the release of land occupied by the military, it went on to state “the UK has consistently called for land releases and demilitarisation of the north to be accelerated”.

A group of Tamil protestors staged a demonstration in Mannar on Wednesday, as Sri Lankan military land surveyors attempted to acquire a disputed tranche of land in the region.