Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Sinhalese students attack Tamils at Eastern Uni

Mar 12, 2016

Nine Tamil students at the Eastern University's Trincomalee campus were attacked by Sinhala students on Friday night they said in to Lankasri.

The injured Tamil students reported that over 50 Sinhala students entered the building they were inside and attacked them.

28 Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan navy

Mar 12, 2016

The Sri Lankan navy on Saturday arrested twenty-eight Indian fishermen in separate incidents, and three vessels impounded.

This arrest is the latest in a series of arrests by the Sri Lankan navy, with a total of 31 fishermen arrested already since the beginning of this month.

Last week the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa had written a further letter to the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, urging him to find a permanent solution to the issue.

Sri Lankan police recover 2kg of heroin in Jaffna

Mar 11, 2016

Sri Lankan police reportedly recovered almost 2kg of heroin in Thondamanaru in Jaffna on Saturday.

The drugs, worth an estimated 12,00,00,000 rupees, was discovered after Valvettithurai police received a tip off.

EU wants ‘full implementation’ of UN resolution on Sri Lanka

Mar 11, 2016

The European Union (EU) has called on Sri Lanka to “further increase its cooperation” with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “in view of the full implementation of its commitments” of a UN resolution passed last year.

Speaking at the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council currently underway in Geneva, the EU also thanked human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al Hussain for information provided by his recent visit to the island.

“We would be interested in your views on how the international community can best support Sri Lanka at this juncture,” added the EU statement.

UK ‘firmly committed to full implementation’ of UN resolution on Sri Lanka

Mar 11, 2016

Britain reiterated its commitment to the full implementation of a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability for mass atrocities committed during the final phases of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka, at a statement delivered in Geneva this week.

In a statement at the UN Human Rights Council’s 31st session, the United Kingdom said:

“We remain firmly committed to the full implementation of the resolution adopted in September and stand ready to help Sri Lanka”.

“We encourage the government to continue in its efforts to help bring lasting peace to Sri Lanka, including by establishing credible and consultative reconciliation and accountability mechanism and, by strengthening its engagement with your office.”

HRW ‘concerned’ at Sri Lankan government statements on accountability

Mar 11, 2016

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it was concerned at statements made by the Sri Lankan government, which called into question its commitment to fully implement a UN resolution on accountability.

Speaking at the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week, the human rights organisation said “many have rightly put the emphasis on the need for implementation of existing resolutions, if the Council is to have relevance and impact on the ground”.

‘Families of missing are still suffering’ says Pasumai Thayagam

Mar 11, 2016

The families of the “tens of thousands of missing who are unaccounted for are still suffering” despite a change of government in Sri Lanka, said Pasumai Thayagam, in a statement delivered to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week.

“The government of Sri Lanka was elected over a year ago with great hopes for significant improvement in human rights,” said the non-governmental organisation.

The statement went on to quote the International Truth and Justice Project, which said that “instead, one year after the change of government in Sri Lanka, the security forces continue to detain, torture and sexually violate Tamils in a network of sites across the island”.

Pasumai Thayagam went on to note that a range of issues remain unsolved including the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and “an all-Sinhalese military for which there is total impunity continues to be station in the Tamil areas”.

Sri Lanka needs international expertise at all levels – IMADR

Mar 11, 2016

Sri Lanka needs international involvement “at all levels” in order to implement a UN resolution on accountability for mass atrocities, said the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR).

In a statement delivered to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, IMADR said that in Sri Lanka “the President and Prime Minister made statements which have created uncertainties and anxieties in the minds of the families of the disappeared and those seeking accountability in the post war context”.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister said recently that the tens of thousands of missing Tamils across the North-East were “probably dead”, without offering an explanation for their deaths, whilst Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena dismissed the notion of international involvement in an accountability mechanism.

“It is in our experience that Sri Lanka needs international expertise at all levels in order to effectively implement the resolution,” IMADR added.