In a desperate bid for safety, an Eelam Tamil mother and her two young children, sought refuge in Dhanushkodi, India this week, fleeing from Thalaimannar. 

Yoga Valli, aged 34, along with her children Anuja (8 years old) and Mishal (5 years old), made the journey to India by boat paying Rs.275,000. They were apprehended by Indian authorities when they reached Dhanushkodi. 

Gopalakrishnan Gokul Prem Kumar, a former cadre of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and talented artist, died last week under mysterious circumstances. 

It is being reported that he died in a car accident just a few steps away from his home. The incident occurred late on Friday night in the Adampan area of Mannar-Mantai West Divisional Secretary Division.

More than 50 prominent Tamil diaspora organizations from 15 countries have thrown their weight behind US House Resolution 1230, which calls for an independence referendum to provide Eelam Tamils with a political solution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka. The resolution, introduced in Congress on May 15, 2024, has garnered widespread support and is now gaining momentum.

Former Parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra, a vocal member of Sri Lanka’s Opposition Party Samagi Jana Balawegaya, has been sentenced to three years of imprisonment for her involvement in the abduction and assault of a youth.

The sentencing was delivered by Colombo High Court Judge Amal Ranaraja on Friday 28th June. Premachandra was found guilty of 18 charges, and the court ordered a fine of Rs. 20,000 for each charge.

Tamils in Jaffna have protested against the transfer the newly appointed Medical Superintendent of Chavakachcheri Base Hospital, after he claimed that there was corruption occurring at the medical facility.

A memorial was held to honour the memory of the more than 140 Tamils who were killed in the Navaly Church Massacre on July 9, 1995, at St Peter’s Church in Navaly.

Several Tamils gathered to pay floral tributes and light candles at the same church this week. 

Attending the funeral of the late Tamil National Alliance leader, R. Sampanthan, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe commemorated his passing stressing that Sampanthan had “always said that this country cannot be divided” and instead advocated for either a federal system or greater devolution.

As Britain’s new prime minister Keir Starmer takes up office this week, we look back on his previous statements on the British Tamil community, his calls for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court and on justice for mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people.

Earlier this year, Starmer released a message to commemorate  the “15^th year Mullivaikkal Genocide Remembrance Day,” paying tribute to the tens of thousands of Tamils killed in 2009.

On this day 29 years ago, the Sri Lankan air force dropped 13 bombs on St Peter’s Church in Navaly. More than 140 sheltering Tamils, who were encouraged by the military to seek refuge at the church, were killed on the spot.  At least 13 children were amongst the dead, with many more succumbing to injuries later as the local hospital was swamped with the wounded.

This weekend saw the funeral of former leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Rajavarodayam Sampanthan in Trincomalee.

The funeral was attended by several senior political figures including former leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), Mavai Senathirajah, M.A. Sumanthiran, Ranil Wickremesinghe and controversially members of the Rajapaksa clan.