• Five-fold increase in consumption of alcohol in North-East Sri Lanka

    The Jaffna Peninsula has seen a five-fold increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages in 2013, reports.

    The President of the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce R Jeyasegaran said that alcohol consumption was rapidly increasing after the end of the war between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

    According to the department, beer consumption increased to over 4 million litres from the initial consumption levels of 762,610 litres in 2009.

    Jeyagaseran told Ceylon Today the introduction of alcohol and drugs in the North-East was a systematic attempt to damage the social structure of the youth in Jaffna.

    The president of the Jaffna Chamber of Commerce, added that liquor stores had been illegally set up near temples, schools and important institutions.

    Genocidal agenda behind increase in drugs in North - TNA MP (10 Jun 2015)

    Tamils still face genocidal agendas says TNA MP (07 Jun 2015)

    Increased drug problem since Sri Lanka's military arrived in North-East says CV Wigneswaran (08 Jun 2015)

  • Sri Lanka denies allegations of closing down army camps in North-East
    The general secretary of the United National Party (UNP), Sri Lanka’s biggest party in the ruling coalition, dismissed former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s claims that 59 army camps had been shut down in the North-East.
  • Tamil girl reported missing in Kilinochchi

    A Tamil girl from Kilinochchi has been reported missing after she failed to return home earlier this week.

    Kanesamoorthy Santhimalar went missing on her way home from Kilinochchi town to Thirunagar on Tuesday, said her parents in a police complaint.

  • Buddhist monks oversee Sri Lankan military blood donation in Mullaitivu

    The Sri Lankan military marked six years since the capture of Mullaitivu, by holding a Buddhist ceremony overseen by monks as they donated blood at their army headquarters in the region.

    Buddhist ceremonies at the Security Force Headquarters in Mullaitivu were held as over 371 pints of blood were donated to mark the sixth anniversary of Sri Lankan troops and the Buddhist ‘Poson Full Moon Poya Day’.

  • Sri Lanka's foreign minister confirms meeting GTF, points to LLRC

    Sri Lanka’s Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera confirmed that issues of reviewing bans on diaspora and releasing political prisoners had been discussed with some representatives of the Tamil diaspora and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA).

    Responding to questions from the opposition leader Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Foreign Affairs Minister confirmed that a meeting in London took place in London with representatives of the Global Tamil Forum, TNA MP M Sumanthiran, former Norwegian negotiator Eric Solheim and representatives of the South African and Swiss governments.

    Samaraweera further stressed that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), which was commissioned by the previous government, had recommended engagement with the diaspora to encourage reconciliation with different communities, reports dailymirror.lk.

    The LLRC was slammed by international NGOs and foreign diplomats as being inadequate and flawed in addressing core issues on the island, consequentially strengthening calls for an international process to investigate Sri Lanka’s atrocities and work towards reconciliation.

    Opposition questions government over GTF meet (12 June 2015)

    TNA spokesperson denies knowledge of London meet (09 Jun 2015)

    See also:

    Sri Lanka's LLRC does not meet international standards - FCO (28 Jan 2014)

    TNA rejects LLRC report, calls for international action (15 Jan 2012)

    LLRC report through the eyes of the JHU  (28 Dec 2011)

    ‘Responsibility now falls on the international community’ – ICG (23 Dec 2011)

    LLRC report falls short - cross-party UK MPs (22 Dec 2011)

  • Construction of illegal Buddhist temple halted

    Construction work has been suspended on a Buddhist temple being built on illegally appropriated Tamil land in Mullaitivu.

  • Sri Lanka not in financial crisis insists minister
    Sri Lanka's finance minister Ravi Karunanayake dismissed claims that the government was facing a financial crisis, instead blaming the former regime for excessive spending and causing a “nightmare”.

    Mr Karunanayake denied Sri Lanka was in crisis, however admitted that financial problems persist because of the previous government. "What to do?" asked the minister. "It’s not really a headache, it’s really a nightmare.”

    The minister continued to say "it’s not just a repair job but a resuscitation”.

    “I come from the private sector as a chartered accountant, and, coming into this office, I never knew that countries could be run in such a mess,” he continued. "Even a betel nut shop in the street has an accounting system, but not here. I don’t want to run down my own country but I must put it in context.”
  • Sri Lankan president commends Korean monks for contribution to Buddhism

    Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena thanked a delegation of Buddhist monks from Korea for their contribution to Buddhism this week, whilst meeting them in Colombo.

    The delegation of Korean Bhikkhus, including the Chief Incumbent of the Yeorae Yaksasa Temple in Korea, met with Mr Sirisena in Temple Trees.

    According to the Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka:

    “The President Sirisena also commended the enormous religious service done by the Bhikkhus of the both countries for the development of Buddhism.”

  • Sri Lankan troops mark 6 years since capture of Mullaitivu

    The Sri Lankan military marked 6 years since the capture of Mullaitivu last week, with a military ceremony and Buddhist ceremony at its Mullaitivu headquarters last week.

    The Ministry of Defence reported that a Buddhist “All-Night Pirith chanting ceremony” was held, overseen by 18 Buddhist monks and Major General Sudantha Ranasinghe.

    Mr Ranasinghe can be seen below in the photo on the left, dressed in white receiving blessings from Buddhist monk Panwila Gunarathana Nayaka.

    Meanwhile prayer sessions were also reportedly held at a Hindu temple, a mosque and church in Mullaitivu, which the Major General attended in full military uniform.

  • Ranil states Gotabhaya has ‘renounced any allegiance to Sri Lanka’

    Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the former defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa should not have been charge of the Sri Lanka’s national security as he was a US citizen who had “renounced any allegiance to Sri Lanka”, in a speech to parliament last week.

    Speaking in Sinhala, Mr Wickremesinghe told lawmakers that Mr Rajapaksa “was in-charge of people who were bearing arms for the republic of Sri Lanka, while he under law, was obliged to bear arms for the United States of America”.

    The Prime Minister went on to state that if the United States had gone to war with Sri Lanka, then Mr Rajapaksa would have fought alongside the Americans against Sri Lanka.

  • Rajapaksa warns of threat to Sri Lanka's national security and economy at election rally

    Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa alleged that Sri Lanka’s national security and economy was at risk under the new regimes governance.

  • US envoy visits Sri Lanka to discuss potential violation of sanctions agreement on Iran

    A representative of the US State Department met with the chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation Chairman to discuss Sri Lanka’s potential violation of its commitment to US sanctions on Iran’s crude oil.

  • TNA will not support 20A as number of seats in Jaffna cut down

    The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) will not be supporting the 20th Amendment, which has recently been approved by the Sri Lankan cabinet, as it will reduce the number of parliamentary seats in Jaffna from 11 to 6, said spokesperson Suresh Premachandran.

  • Australian PM refuses to rule out paying people smugglers to turn back boats
    Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott refused to comment on reports that the Australian government has been paying people smugglers to turn back boats packed with asylum seekers, saying that he would “stop the boats by hook or by crook”.

    In an interview with radio 3AW on Friday, Mr Abbott said Australia would do “whatever we need to do” to stop asylum seeker boats from reaching the country, adding that Australian border protection officials had been “incredibly creative” in devising strategies.

    When pushed to comment on whether Australian authorities had paid people smugglers, Me Abbott responded,

    “I just don’t want to go into the details of how it’s done because, like a lot of things that law enforcement agencies have to do, it’s necessary, it’s difficult, and at times I suppose it’s dangerous work but we do it and we’ve stopped the boats.”

  • Opposition questions government over GTF meet

    The SLFP opposition leader Nimal Siripala de Silva on Wednesday questioned Foreigm Minister Mangala Samaraweera over the meeting with the Global Tamil Forum and the TNA which occurred in London last weekend.

    Mr de Silva said in a statement to parliament, GTF had been acting against the national interests of Sri Lanka, by promoting a “separatist agenda and destroying Sri Lanka’s image at international forums”.

    "There were further reports that the meeting had been facilitated by some non-governmental organisations based in South Africa, several Norwegian organisations and was attended by representatives of a political party in Sri Lanka and an MP of that party [TNA MP MA Sumanthiran],” he said.

    The opposition leader said the meeting was reported to have been aimed at lifting the ban on Tamil diaspora groups, including the GTF, as terrorist entities.

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