Posts Categorized: Diaspora

Kickstarter Campaign for ‘No Fire Zone’

No Fire Zone – Impact Distribution http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599171067/no-fire-zone-impact-distribution 3,800 British pounds raised to date.  Need 20,000 pounds by May 30 to get any funds according to Kickstarter rules. This was supposed to be a war conducted in secret. The Government excluded the international press, forced the UN to leave the war zone and ruthlessly silenced the… Read more »

Discourse on the NPC Elections

From T.K. The 13th Amendment has been discussed in great length here and elsewhere as nowhere near  power devolution of any kind for Tamils. However, the insertion of it in Tamils’ path TODAY cannot be termed as about ‘nothing’. Even the parliament and judiciary cannot withstand the Sri Lankan presidential system, so why do we make much ado about the… Read more »

Tamils Continue to Flee Sri Lanka

To escape this climate of fear, it appears that an increasing number of Tamils are fleeing Sri Lanka, boarding barely seaworthy vessels, bound for an uncertain future as asylum seekers. This is despite the government’s official effort to reconstruct the war-torn north of the country. “You have a significant number of people leaving postwar, at a point at which the government is assuring that economic development is prioritized and reconciliation is being effected in earnest,” says the CPA’s Saravanamuttu. The fact that so many people are choosing to go “seems to suggest people in the north don’t feel that way. They are voting with their feet, so to speak, and they are paying fairly large sums of money and risking life and limb to do it.” Saravanamuttu says that official numbers of the number of people leaving are unavailable, but to give just one example, over 6,000 Tamils arrived in Australia in 2012, some 30 times higher than the 2011 figure.

Seeding Resistance

What was long dismissed or vilified as ‘extremist ideology’, proved to be not only irrefutably ubiquitous but a rationale response to legitimate grievances. The nation had come together and its voice was clear: resistance in the face of genocide and the Eelam Tamil nation’s right to self determination – the same two threads that formed and remain the basis of the Tamil struggle today.

TfO: More Needs to Be Done

“Nothing except an international investigation is likely to produce an acceptable result, the letter concluded.”

Resolution Another UN ‘Grave Failure’

While PEARL appreciates continued attention by the Council on Sri Lanka, we regret the resolution’s failure to establish an international Commission of Inquiry to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Sri Lanka.

Geneva Resolution: Not A Victory For Tamils, But A Defeat For Sri Lanka

Geneva Resolution: Not a Victory for Tamils, but a Defeat for Sri Lanka PM – TGTE – Visuvanathan Rudrakumaran The resolution proposed by America at the Human Rights Council related to Sri Lanka was passed by a majority of 13 votes. Out of the Human Rights Council comprising of 47 member states, 26 voted for the resolution, 13 against… Read more »

USTPAC Gives Cautious Welcome to UNHRC Resolution

US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC) Accords Cautious Welcome to the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka USTPAC Press Release UNHRC22 Resolution Mar222013 The Geneva based UN Human Rights Council adopted a second resolution on Promoting Accountability and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka, putting Sri Lanka under close scrutiny for grave rights violations, but… Read more »

CTC: A Missed Opportunity

For Immediate Release  The United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution on Sri Lanka : A Missed Opportunity Geneva, Switzerland The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva today passed Resolution 22/L.1, on “Promoting Reconciliation and Accountability in Sri Lanka”, with 26 of 47 states voting in favour of the resolution. The resolution was proposed by… Read more »

Meet to Discuss Tamil Future

“The president has said that he is not going to get the US involved in any overseas conflicts except to prevent genocide,” said the press spokesman. “We are trying to persuade him that genocide is just what is involved with the Tamils in Sri Lanka.”

Tamil Groups Convene for Discussion

These discussions will continue and progress with wider participation to bring together more Tamil and Tamil speaking people’s organisations in the months to come.

Dignity or Depravation for Women

Parliament observed a moment of silence, in the midst of the Impeachment Debate, as a mark of respect for Rizana. It is high time some action is taken to show the world that Sri Lanka means business in the fight for women’s rights.

USTPAC Condemns the Saudi Execution of Sri Lankan Maid Rizana Nafeek

USTPAC condemns the Saudi Arabian government for beheading young Sri Lankan maid who was a child when the alleged offence took place, and blames the Sri Lankan government for failure to rise above ethnic considerations to adequately intervene to stop the slaughter. Press Release: United States Tamil Political Action Council – 2 hrs 35 mins ago WASHINGTON,… Read more »

Justice Under Siege in Sri Lanka

It was nothing but raw political power that steered the Rajapaksas to the impeachment route. With provincial economic development under the centre, they deemed they would become king maker in the provinces…

At the same time, the impeachment of the Chief Justice of Sri Lanka, its relation to the rule of law as it relates to the Tamils could also figure prominently in the UN discussions.

Joint New Year Message from Tamil Organizations

Joint New Year Message from Tamil Organizations and Entities World-wide, Supporting Tamils in Sri Lanka Tamil Organizations Joint New Year Message 01 January 2013 [PDF with logos] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Joint New Year Message from Tamil Organizations and Entities World-wide, Supporting Tamils in Sri Lanka   January 01, 2013   On this New Year’s Day,… Read more »

The International Crime of Genocide

The International Crime of Genocide: The Case of the Tamil People in Sri Lanka by Lutz Oette, Tamil Information Centre, London, March 1998 Dr. Lutz Oette is today Counsel at REDRESS, a human rights organisation that helps torture survivors obtain justice, www.redress.org and Lecturer in Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)… Read more »

Remembering for the Future

The Remembrance Day events are therefore not just about commemorating the past. In remembering the sacrifices of the past we also reaffirm our commitment to the Tamil struggle. The sacrifices of the past impose obligations on us and command us to struggle to secure Tamil national rights.

“I Remain a Friend of the Sinhala People and of Buddhism”

But on a lighter vein, I recall what I wrote to President Premadasa:-Sir, please turn the lion on the National flag the other way, so as not to threaten the two minorities with the sword!

To His Excellency President Rajapakse, I may quote a Chinese proverb from Wang Suo of Hans dynasty: –Nothing brings greater misfortune than killing those who have already surrendered…
Mr. D.S. Senanayake, the first Prime Minister, who knew the birth pangs and fears of the non-Sinhalese on the eve of Independence, loudly proclaimed to the world: United we stand, divided we fall!