Speaking in a parliamentary event marking Thai Pongal, British MPs and councillors celebrated the contribution of Tamils to life in the UK and renewed their commitment to justice. The event was organised by the British Tamil Forum.

Ed Davey MP

FIFA has suspended Sri Lanka following "undue interference by a third party" during an election conducted by the federation. 

The Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) has been suspended, barring FFSL representatives and the national team from participating in international competitions. The Ministry of Sports introduced a raft of regulations that reportedly compromised the autonomy and independence of national sports bodies, including the FFSL.

India has committed to help ease the debt of Sri Lanka as part of a possible International Monetary Fund (IMF) supported program, Reuters reported this week.

The island is currently dealing with it's worst economic crisis since its independence from Britain in 1948, causing prices to soar and making it increasingly difficult for people to access food, fuel and medicines. 

Tamils in Denmark marked the 30th death anniversary of Sathasivam Krishnakumar alias Colonel Kittu this week. 

Colonel Kittu, and nine other LTTE cadres, committed suicide after being surrounded by Indian navy warships in 1993.

Murdered Tamil journalist Subramaniyam Sugirdharajan was commemorated in Batticaloa this morning, to mark 17 years since his death. 

Lamps were lit and flowers were laid in front of a garlanded portrait of the slain journalist in Gandhi Park at a commemoration event organsied by Batticaloa District Tamil Jounralists Union and the Eastern Journalists Union. 

The Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration of Sri Lanka and Ombudsman Institution of Turkey entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to protect human rights, despite ongoing human rights abuses.

Responding to the arrest of Tamil civil society leader Velan Swamigal, British MPs have expressed their deepening concern over the continued persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

On Twitter, Elliot Colburn, MP for Carshalton and Wallington and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, noted his concerns stating:

On the day Sri Lanka’s president attempts to visit the Tamil city of Jaffna, a familiar scene unfolds. Peaceful Tamil demonstrators are swarmed by armed Sri Lankan officers; the military erects roads blocks to cordon off demonstrators; and, the police resort to firing water cannons in an attempt to disperse the Tamil public. 

During a joint press conference with Sri Lanka’s president and foreign minister, India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar stated that “India decided not to wait for others but to do what we believe is right. We extended financing assurances to IMF to clear the way for Sri Lanka to move forward”.

As India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Sri Lanka on Thursday, Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) leader, Gajendrakumar G. Ponnambalam has written to the minister urging for a federal solution, in rejection of Sri Lanka’s 13^th amendment.

“Ever since the 13^th amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka was introduced, the Tamils have rejected it on the grounds that for as long as the structure of the State remains Unitary, no meaningful autonomy and self-government can be achieved” Ponnambalam writes.