• Sri Lanka passes law banning sale of land to foreign citizens

    Oct 20
    The Sri Lankan parliament passed the law banning the sale of land to foreign citizens, on Monday night, reports Reuters.

    The Land Bill, will mean that foreigners will only be able to lease land for up to 99 years.

    The law will also prevent companies and firms that are over 50% foreign owned from buying land.

    See more here.

  • UNP blames government for EU ruling on LTTE
    Sri Lanka's opposition party, the United National Party (UNP) blamed the government for the European Union's annulment of anti-terror measures against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last week.

    "When we come to power we will work to reinstate the ban and we strongly urge the government to do everything it can to ensure the Tamil Tigers remain proscribed as a terror organisation," UNP MP Eran Wickramaratne was quoted by the Global Post as saying.

    Wickramaratne blamed the government's "politicised" foreign service, and lack of career diplomats.

  • Travel restriction to North designed to prevent Tamils giving evidence to UN inquiry says TNPF
    The Sri Lankan government's re-introduction of travel restrictions to the North, preventing all foreign citizens from entering the region without prior written permission from the Ministry of Defence, is aimed at stopping Tamils from giving evidence to the UN inquiry, said the Tamil National People's Front (TNPF).

    "The fact that the travel restrictions on foreign passport holders to the North has come at this juncture is not a surprise at all," the TNPF president, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam told the Tamil Guardian on Sunday.

    "The government would have been observing closely and its intelligence sources would have revealed that the Tamil victims of the most heinous crimes are very eager to give evidence to the OHCHR Investigation into Sri Lanka (OISL). The only hesitation Tamils have is with regards to how the evidence can be submitted whilst maintaining secrecy. One of the safest ways would be to transfer the evidence through diplomats or foreigners who would be most likely to be able to get the evidence out of the country safely," he said.

  • Sri Lanka to challenge EU court annulment of anti-terror measures on LTTE
    Sri Lanka is to challenge the annulment of anti-terror measures against the LTTE by the General Court of the European Union on Thursday, by dispatching its ambassador to Strasbourg on Monday.

    Ambassador Rodney Perera is to urge the Council to act on the Court ruling, attend the EU parliament's plenary session, and meet with foreign affairs and defence committees, reports the Colombo Page.

    On Thursday, the Court annulled the European Council’s measures taken against the LTTE, which was designated as a terrorist organisation by the EU, on procedural grounds.

  • MoD collects details of Tamils in North for 'lost property search'
    Sri Lanka's Ministry of Defence has requested Tamils in the North to register their name, address, email address, telephone phone number and other personal information, including names of household occupants, in order to search for any property lost after 1980, the Sunday Times reports.
  • Travel restrictions to North will stop diaspora funded war against government says SL official
    Travel restrictions have been placed on the North to prevent foreign elements funding another war against the Sri Lankan government, said the ruling United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) coalition party's general secretary on Monday.
  • Diaspora attempts to oust president through lifting EU proscription on LTTE says Rajapaksa
    The recent European Court of Justice ruling to lift restrictions placed on individuals and organisations allegedly linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is a result of “pro-LTTE” diaspora and opposition parties attempting to oust the current presidency said the Sri Lankan president on Monday.
     
  • Presidential elections to be held in January – Minister

    Sri Lanka’s information minister Keheliya Rambukwella has confirmed that the presidential elections will be held in January, two years earlier than scheduled.

    Rambukwella, who is also the government spokesperson said at a public meeting on Monday that a final announcement will be made by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

  • Gotabaya meets with Indian defence minister

    Sri Lanka’s Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa met with Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in Delhi earlier today and discussed “a number of issues”, PTI reported.

  • School girl reported missing in Jaffna
    A 17 year old high school student has been reported missing in Jaffna after she failed to return home from a tuition class, reports the Uthayan.

    Sivanesan Perani, who lives and goes to school in Mandaithivu, was reported missing in Jaffna on Monday. 

    The parents of Perani have informed the police, who are reportedly investigating the disappearance.
  • Tamil Refugee Council welcomes Packer's decision to watch 'No Fire Zone' before Colombo casino launch
    The Australia based group, Tamil Refugee Council, welcomed the decision by the business tycoon, James Packer, to watch the 'No Fire Zone' documentary, ahead of launching a multi-million dollar casino in Sri Lanka.

    Packer pledged to view the documentary, which was recently nominated for a prestigious Emmy award, at the annual general meeting of his business enterprise, Crown Resorts, in Perth this week.

    Local refugee activist, Victoria Martin-Iverson, gave Packer a copy, after questions were raised about his plans to build the casino in Colombo.

    "My heart bleeds for people caught in conflicts," Packer was quoted as saying by the West Australian newspaper, expressing sympathy for those, including Tamils in 2009.

    Urging Packer to reconsider his business venture, the spokesperson for the Tamil Refugee Council, Trevor Grant, said Packer's decision was "welcome news".

  • UN official stopped from entering North by Defence Ministry travel restrictions
    A United Nations official was stopped from entering the North on Wednesday, due to the Ministry of Defence's newly re-introduced travel restrictions, requiring all foreign citizens to seek prior permission from the Ministry to enter the Tamil region in the North of the island.
  • UK, Canada, Australia warn citizens of Sri Lanka's restrictions on travel to North
    The UK, Canada and Australia warned their citizens of the Sri Lanka's new travel restrictions on visiting the North of the island, in updated travel advisories this week.

    The new restrictions, require all foreign nationals to obtain permission from the Ministry of Defence prior to entering the North. The clearance request is expected to take 2-3 days to process.

    The UK's Foreign Office's travel advice now states:
    "The security forces have imposed restrictions preventing all foreign passport holders (including British nationals) travelling to the Northern Province. All foreign passport holders planning to travel to the north must get prior approval from the Ministry of Defence.

    You should send a written request to the following address/fax: Secretary Ministry of Defence & Urban Development (Attn: Military Liaison Officer) 15/5 Baladaksha Mawatha Colombo 3 Fax: +94 11 2328109

    Military activities are ongoing."
  • Fears travel restrictions to North will affect tourism
    Highlighting that at least 8.6% of tourists in Sri Lanka go to the north-east, Sri Lanka’s tourism board said it was caught unaware of the new travel restrictions placed on foreigners travelling to the North, reports the SundayTimes.lk.
  • EU will have to rethink 'flawed' proscription of LTTE says ECJ lawyer
    The European Union decision to ban the LTTE in 2006 needs to be rethought after the recent European Court Justice (ECJ) ruling exposed “big mistakes” in the proscription outlined a lawyer representing LTTE at the ECJ.

    Speaking to TamilNet, Victor Koppe, highlighting that the ECJ ruling had exposed that  proscription of the LTTE by EU was “flawed in various aspects,” said,

    “I think it is up to the European Union to really ask itself the question, should we want to continue with this ban. The world situation is changed so much. I think this would be a very appropriate moment to rethink and reconsider this decision to put the LTTE on EU terrorist list.”

    Stressing the need for the European Union to re-justify its LTTE ban, Koppe added,
     
    “There should be a fundamental reconsideration in the position of the European Union. They made some – very strong – big mistakes. It is time to reconsider things with this decision in hand.”

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