by British Tamils Forum & US Tamil Political Action Council, December 10, 2017 For immediate release BTF and USTPAC Commemorate International Human Rights Day – 2017 On this day in 1948 the United Nations adopted a universal set of human rights values that apply to all of us. The British Tamils Forum (BTF) and the… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Diaspora
Resistance and Resilience
Tamil Guardian editorial, November 27, 2017 Today on Maaveerar Naal Tamils around the world gather in memory of those who died fighting Sri Lankan state oppression. Emboldened by the thousands that gathered at destroyed LTTE resting homes (Thuyilum Illams) last year, preparations this year have been on the largest scale since the end of the armed… Read more »
Dozens of Men Say Sri Lankan Forces Raped and Tortured Them
by Paisley Dodd, Associated Press, NY, November 9, 2017 (published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NY Post, The Guardian and many others.) Video on report at https://www.apnews.com/ced017bd441f46ba838aaedf6ff5dbe2 LONDON (AP) — One of the men tortured in Sri Lanka said he was held for 21 days in a small dank room where he was… Read more »
PEARL Condemns Ongoing Torture & Sexual Violence in Sri Lanka
Urges U.S. Government to Re-Consider its Partnership with Sri Lanka (Washington DC, November 9, 2017) People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) condemns the Sri Lankan government for the torture of over 60 Tamils who have now sought refuge in Europe. The International Truth and Justice Project has gathered testimonies from these Tamil men,… Read more »
Joint Press Release on Peacekeeping Conference in Canada
by 10 Tamil diaspora organization, November 8, 2017 The video of the press conference is uploaded to Youtube and may be viewed here: https://youtu.be/qBNm2MBIsv4 Demanding accountability for international crimes committed by Sri Lankan Armed Forces attending 2017 UN Peacekeeping Defense Ministerial Conference in Vancouver PRESS RELEASE peacekeeping conference – Ottawa, ON – Nov 8 2017 For Immediate Release November… Read more »
Ilankai Tamil Sangam USA Announces Lifetime Service Awards to Medical Team who Served the Civilians in the Last Phase of Civil War in Sri Lanka
Ilankai Tamil Sangam USA recognizes the medical profession team comprising doctors, nurses, technicians, ambulance drivers and other volunteers who have gone above and beyond in their service to the internally displaced and war-affected people during the final phases of the civil war in Sri Lanka. During the times of war and great distress, they heroically… Read more »
The Legacy of Indian Migration to European Colonies
[Note that Indian Tamils brought by the British to work in the coffee, rubber & tea estates of Sri Lanka are not included in the discussion below. This community joined the indigenous Tamils already on the island for milennia. /Ed.] http://indianexpress.com/article/research/indian-tamils-and-sri-lankan-tamils-here-is-the-difference-4654435/ One hundred years since servitude by ‘The Economist,’ London, September 2, 2017 A century after India… Read more »
Ongoing UNHRC session: What’s in store for Sri Lanka?
by SUNANDA DESHAPRIYA GroundViews 09/25/2017 The term ‘painfully slow progress’ has become a standard descriptor for Sri Lanka’s overall pace of implementation of UNHRC resolution A/HRC/30/1 in Geneva. It has been two years since Sri Lanka cosponsored the resolution “Promoting democracy, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka” pledging in the meantime to implement a comprehensive… Read more »
For the Rohingyas and Us
by Cheran Rudhramoorthy, on Facebook, August 31, 2017 (Also in Tamil) I abandoned my child, My God I cannot ask you anymore For forgiveness. Just three minutes Before killing the child you chopped off my hands. Amid pain, grief and wailing you will not have grace. When the spear was inserted softly into my child’s stomach, thinking… Read more »
GTF Calls for Concerted Attempts to Address Accountability Issues in Sri Lanka
12 August 2017, London Global Tamil Forum calls for concerted attempts by all concerned to address accountability issues in Sri Lanka GTF calls for concerted attempts by all concerned to address accountability issues in Sri Lanka The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) is dismayed that more than eight years after the end of war, Sri Lanka… Read more »
Voluntary, Safe and Sustainable Return
Support Needed for Sri Lankan Refugees by Mayuran Jeevarathnina, ‘Groundviews,’ Colombo, August 9, 2017 Editor’s Note: A version of this speech was delivered by the author at the UNHCR Annual Consultations with NGOs, held from June 14-16 at the International Conference Centre in Geneva “O our motherland, bid us a farewell We buried our smiles in… Read more »
TGTE: Remedial Justice for 1983 Massacre of Tamils
Would have averted 2009 Mullivaaikaal Genocide by Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam, July 23, 2017 Today Tamils across the globe are remembering 34th anniversary of massacre of Tamils – Black July 83. COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, July 24, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ — During the final days of July 1983, Sinhala racism unleashed a pogrom towards the Tamils… Read more »
Rudrakumaran: Man with a Mission in Pursuit of Eelam
With Rudrakumaran at the helm there is hope and somehow there is no doubt he will do everything in his power to keep hope alive – and I know the Maveerar are smiling…because of him; they know the non-violent fight for Tamil Eelam is in good hands! by Usha Sriskandarajah, July 26, 2017 Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran’s… Read more »
US May Deny Resettlement of Hundreds of Tamils on Nauru
Manus amid anti-terror laws by James Bennett & Stephen Dziedzic, Australian Broadcasting Corp., July 19, 2017 Australia will need to find an alternative home for a large number of Tamil asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus expected to be denied entry to the United States under sweeping anti-terror laws. Key points: 9-11 anti-terror legislation, the… Read more »
Ex-Diplomat Carne Ross: the Case for Anarchism
How a high-flying diplomat and Middle East adviser lost his faith in western democracy – but put his trust in people power by Andrew Anthony, ‘The Guardian,’ UK, July 9, 2017 If you were to play a game of word association with the term “anarchism” what would be the likely responses? Perhaps the anarchy sign,… Read more »
Kurupasiddi July 8
Kurupasiddi Toronto July 8 2017
Rajendra Theagarajah’s Canada speech
Need access to markets, not handouts from expatriates by LankaReporter, Colombo, June 9, 2017 Rajendra Theagarajah, Vice Chairman of Cargills Bank who was the guest of honour at the Canadian Tamils’ Chamber of Commerce gala and awards ceremony with CTCC President Ajith Sabaratnam. (Picture by Gnane Gananedran) Partner with us in Sri Lanka, not to… Read more »
Netherlands-Funded CEPA Project Wages Political ‘Counter-Insurgency’
On Diaspora, elected NPC Colombo Establishment and its global backers are trying to isolate the Northern and Eastern provincial councils by intervening through Colombo-based authorities, ministries and departments coming under the Central Government. Certain NGOs operating in Colombo also operate in the same manner. There is also a hidden agenda of diverting ‘post-war development assistance’,… Read more »
TIC: The Role of Diaspora Tamils in Promoting Human Right & Peace
in Sri Lanka by Tamil Information Centre, London, June 9, 2017 TIC has a large number of monographs (papers) on important topics about Eelam Tamils from the mid-1980s on available for sale at http://www.ticonline.org/monographs.php?page=14
We Eelam Tamils Embrace the 150th Birthday Celebrations of Canada
By Eelaventhan Manickavasakar, June 6, 2017 Canada’s concept of unity and diversity has a special appeal to the Eelam Tamils. Sri Lanka should learn lessons from Canada for it to survive in dignity and self honour. – Canada is also a classic example of how a multi lingual, multi national, multi religious state can preserve… Read more »