Tamil families of the disappeared protested against Sri Lanka’’s justice minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe's visit to Jaffna earlier today. 

Following growing demands to release all Tamil political prisoners, Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe met with the relatives of those detained alongside the leader of the Tamil Makkal Thesiya Kootan (TMTK), CV Wigneswaran.

During the meeting, Rajapakshe claimed that the government is “considering the release of remaining political prisoners”. He further highlighted a spate of recent releases to signal that the government was taking a positive stance toward the issue.

On October 30, 1995, over half a million Tamil men, women and children fled their homes in Jaffna as the Sri Lankan military launched a military offensive to capture the peninsula, under the leadership of then president Chandrika Kumaratunga.

Sri Lankan soldiers took photographs of Tamils as they began clearing the Theravil Thuyilum Illam (LTTE martyr resting places) this morning ahead of Maaveerar Naal. 

Maaveerar Naal, or Great Heroes Day, falls on November 27, and is observed in remembrance of the war heroes who sacrificed their lives in the Tamil struggle for liberation. 

Seven Tamil Nadu fishermen have been remanded until November 9th after being arrested for allegedly fishing in Sri Lankan waters. 

The seven fishermen were arrested on Wednesday by the Sri Lankan navy who were patrolling the area. 

Eelam Tamil fishermen have been struggling to get by having to compete in their own waters with fishermen from Tamil Nadu, the Sri Lankan Navy, and even Chinese fishing expeditions.

Amidst growing concern over Sri Lanka’s human rights record, a delegation for the European Union paid a visit to the leader of the Tamil National Alliance, R. Sampanthan, where they discussed GSP +, the need to repeal Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act; provincial council elections; and Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.

Following the appointment of Britain’s first non-white Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, Sri Lanka’s President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, rushed to congratulate the UK’s new leader and claimed confidence that British-Sri Lankan relations would strengthen.

“I look forward to enhancing this partnership, particularly through the ‘Global Britain’ policy and the UK’s new ‘Platinum Partnership’ scheme with the Commonwealth countries,” Wickremesinghe wrote.

During his visit to Jaffna, the US embassy's deputy chief of mission, Doug Sonnek, met with the Families of the Disappeared and Tamil politicians from across the North-East.

Tamil Families of the Disappeared have protested for over 2,000 days to demand an account for their loved ones who forcibly disappeared by the Sri Lankan military. An estimated 138 protesters have died without knowing the fate of their loved ones.

The US embassy marked the meeting stating on Twitter:
 

As a new British Prime minster takes office, Tamils across the country will be watching closely. It is indeed historic that Rishi Sunak will be the first person of South Asian office to hold the highest office in the country. However, both domestically and internationally, he will have his work cut out for him.

Today marks 26 years since two Tamil activists were shot dead in a Parisian neighbourhood, a murder that shocked the Tamil diaspora worldwide and remains unsolved to this day.

Kandiah Gajendran, also known as Gajan, was the editor of Paris based Tamil weekly 'Eelamurasu' and Kandiah Perinpanathan, known as Nathan, was in-charge of LTTE's international finance. The two men aged 30 and 32-years old respectively, were strolling down Boulevard de La Chapelle on the 26th of October 1996 - a neighbourhood which had a long established and thriving Eelam Tamil community.