Tamil Affairs

Tamil News

Latest news from and about the homeland

Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) Parliamentary Group Leader Shanakiyan Rasamanickam has raised the recent detention of Tamil rapper Sangeethsan Ganeskumar and the wider continued use of Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act with senior officials of the European External Action Service during meetings in Brussels. The meetings, which Rasamanickam set out on X, included a session with…

Bus crashes into a train in Mannar; 14-year old student dies and over 20 injured

                                                          People gather around the tumbled bus trying to rescue passengers.

A bus crashed into a moving train bound from Anuradhapura to Talaimannar on Tuesday causing an accident leaving a 14-year old school boy dead and 25 people injured. 

How Britain Was Complicit in Sri Lankan War Crimes

Writing in The Tribune this week, Tamil Guardian Staff Writer Bharati Selvakumar commented on Britain’s historic and current support of Sri Lanka and “whether Britain will live up to its responsibilities and hold Sri Lanka accountable – or if the government will continue to whitewash this genocidal history”.

UN Human Rights Council vote on Sri Lanka scheduled for next week

The United Nations Human Rights Council has scheduled to vote on a resolution on accountability for mass atrocities in Sri Lanka on Monday 22 March.

The vote, which will be keenly watched by those on the island and abroad, will be on a resolution which calls on the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to "collect... consolidate, analyse and preserve” evidence that could be used in future war crimes trials.

British parliament debates 'UK commitments to reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka'

Following widespread criticism of the draft UN resolution, which is seen to fall short on accountability, the British parliament held a debate on the country's commitments to Sri Lanka on issues of “reconciliation, accountability and human rights”.

Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemn Sri Lanka’s proposed burqa ban

Responding to Sri Lanka proposed burqa ban and close over a thousand madrassas (Islamic schools), both the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have condemned these recent moves.

I do not know what human rights abuses we have committed' – Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Accused war criminal Gotabaya Rajapaksa, speaking at the “Discussions with Village” programme in Galle contested the recent report published by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights stating that he “does not know what human rights abuses we [Sri Lanka] have committed”.

“Discussions with the Village” a programme which began running September 2020, aimed to meet people in remote villages and inquire into their problems and discuss solutions. In this visit to Galle, Rajapaksa discussed the accusation levelled against his government for being complicit in the Easter bombing attacks and highlighted the need for increased militarisation in the North and East. He also commented on the recent damning report published by the Human Rights Commissioner on Sri Lanka.

Leading international lawyers, former UN High Commissioner and Tamil parliamentarians to discuss 'loss of the Tamil homeland'

As the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council continues, Jaffna MP C V Wigneswaran has arranged for a conference entitled “Loss of the Tamil Homeland: Identifying issues and creating strategies to preserve Tamil land”.

Leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) R. Sampanthan, alongside former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navaneetham (Navi) Pillay, and leading human rights lawyers David Matas CM and Cherie Blair CBE QC are expected to speak at said conference.

Sri Lanka to 'deradicalise' and 'rehabilitate' those detained under PTA for 'extremist' ideology

According to new regulations under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), Sri Lanka will "de-radicalise" and "rehabilitate" individuals who hold "violent extremist ideology."

The recently issued gazette notification states that any individual that surrenders or is detained for "causes or intends to cause commission of acts of violence or religious, racial or communal disharmony or feelings of ill will or hostility between different communities or racial or religious groups" can be referred to a "rehabilitation programme."

Indian High Commissioner visits North-East ahead of crucial UNHRC vote

Gopal Baglay, the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, made a trip to the North-East, the traditional Tamil homeland, ahead of a crucial vote on Sri Lanka at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council Session (UNHRC) in Geneva. 

During his visit, Mr. Baglay conferred with parliamentarians of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) in Jaffna on Saturday, 13th March.