Protests were held in Paris, which called on the international community to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crimes and genocide the state had perpetrated against Tamil people during the peak of the armed struggle in 2009. 

Twelve lawyers, all Presidents’ Counsels, have made a written complaint that some of the recommendations in the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI), which was appointed to probe incidents of Political Victimisation of public servants, may be undermining the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, and maybe eroding the impartial and efficient functioning of the Attorney General’s Department. 

Pavunraj Sulaxan, who was one of the two Jaffna University students to be shot dead by Sri Lankan police on 21 October 2016, was commemorated on his 28^th birthday by students at the University. 

Nadarasa Kajan, 23, and Pavunraj Sulaxan, 24, were students from the university's arts faculty when they were murdered. Five Sri Lankan policemen were later suspended and arrested over the deaths in 2016.

(Photos provided by HomeToBiloa)

Former community members and friends of the Tamil asylum-seeking family gathered for a dawn vigil at Lions Park in the early hours of 5 March 2021 to mark the three-year anniversary since the family was detained by immigration officers from their home in Biloela. A number of events were held across Australia, including on Christmas Island, on Friday. 

Protests were held in Switzerland, demanding international justice for human rights abuses against Tamils by the Sri Lankan government and calling on the international community to refer Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

TNA leader, R Sampanthan emphasised the need for international intervention in achieving a political solution to the Tamil people at a conference with the US delegation led by the Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Asia and the Pacific, Ami Bera, in Colombo last week. 

Writing in The Wire this week, Tamil Guardian features editor Thusiyan Nandakumar said the Indian government must “do more than pay lip service to Tamil concerns”.

Describing escalating tensions between India and Sri Lanka, Nandakumar said it “follows a long history of Sri Lankan ‘Indo-phobia’, driven by a protectionist, Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism that has been central to the island’s politics since independence”.

In India, as elections loom in Tamil Nadu, “outrage over Sri Lanka’s actions has been growing,” he added.  

“These are sentiments that Modi will be acutely aware of, having raised them himself during a trip to Tamil Nadu’s capital earlier this month. In an address where he lauded the southern state, he took care to mention the plight of Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lankan security forces and reaffirmed his commitment to “the welfare and aspirations of our Tamil brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka”. “We are always committed to ensuring that they live with equality, justice, peace and dignity,” he said.”

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council Session on 3 March, UK International Human Rights Ambassador, Rita French, raised deep concerns over the violations of religious freedom internationally and highlighted Sri Lanka’s discriminatory policies.

In her statement, she notes the government’s mandatory cremation policy, which violates the religious rights of Muslim and raises concerns over the treatment of Christian minorities.

Tamil families of the disappeared marked International Women's Day with a protest in Vavuniya yesterday as they called on the Sri Lankan government to disclose the whereabouts of their forcibly disappeared loved ones. 

“On this occasion, the entire women community must protest alongside us in order to help us secure justice,” the demonstrators said.

The Canadian Tamil Women’s Organization hosted a socially distanced Car rally in Toronto, “demanding Canadian and international action on Sri Lanka and justice for Tamil Genocide.” 

The protest took place on International Women’s Day (IWD), and protestors gathered in Markham and Brampton with a final destination of Queens Park in Toronto, the Ontario Legislative Building site that houses the Legislative assembly of Ontario.