Kollywood actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan met with Sri Lankan officials in Chennai last week, as he took photographs shaking hands with Sri Lanka’s Deputy High Commissioner.

Haasan, who heads the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party, had discussions with officials, with the Deputy High Commission stating he “expressed his interest to ‘Support Sri Lanka’ through his Welfare Association”.

The favourite to win Canada’s Conservative Party leadership contest pledged to “bring the full weight of the Government of Canada” to ensure an international tribunal for Sri Lanka’s genocide of Tamils and called for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to be arrested in Singapore.

The US Ambassador to Sri Lanka announced over US $1 million would be provided to fund a people trafficking prevention project that is being run with the country’s ministry of defence, an institution that is accused of a range of rights abuses and still headed by an accused war criminal.

At least 9 Sri Lankan soldiers jumped ship and deserted the military whilst in the United States this week, after they travelled to the country to train alongside the American troops and pick up a US navy vessel that was gifted to Colombo.

Events were held in Batticaloa and Mannar this week to mark 39 years since Tamil prisoners were massacred at the high security Welikada prison in Colombo.

Six Eelam Tamil refugees arrived in Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu by boat this morning after being forced to flee the island as a result of the worsening economic conditions.  

The Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) wrote to the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the country this morning, in a hand delivered letter that called for “action” regarding the attack on anti-government protestors by Sri Lanka’s security forces last week.

The leader of the National Freedom Front (NFF) told Sri Lanka’s parliament that the US ambassador in the country had used “psychological barriers” on former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, leaving him “incapable of taking certain decisions”.

A 28-year-old Muslim from Galle has been detained by Sri Lanka’s security forces after allegedly posting “hate speech” against the military on Facebook last week.

According to a press release from the Sri Lankan police, the man shared a post on Facebook condemning the army and aiming to “incite violence”.

He was detained by Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department, which has been actively monitoring social media posts across the island for years.

Singapore has extended the stay of Sri Lanka’s former President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa by two weeks, according to Reuters, amidst growing calls for the arrest of the accused war criminal.

Tamil Nadu has donated humanitarian supplies worth around Rs. 3.4 billion to Sri Lanka to help combat the ongoing economic crisis that has ravaged the island.

British lawmaker and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, Elliot Colburn wrote to the Attorney General of Singapore yesterday, calling on the country’s authorities to arrest former Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and “exercise universal jurisdiction for grave abuses of the Geneva Conventions”. 

Even as political and economic turmoil rages in the South of the island, in the North-East Sri Lankan troops continued to intrude into the everyday life of civilians as the state intensified its militarisation of the region. 

Sri Lanka’s besieged former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa will reportedly return to the island just weeks after fleeing the country, as organisations around the world call for the former military man to be prosecuted for war crimes and genocide.