by Asia Foundation, San Francisco, March 2016 Asia Foundation Sri Lanka Strategic Assessment 2016 Sri Lanka underwent a major political transition in 2015 with the election of President Maithripala Sirisena and the establishment of a new coalition government between the United Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) and one faction of the United Peoples’ Freedom Alliance… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Economy
From Ilankaiththurai to Lanka Patuna
by ‘Tamil Guardian,’ London,’ August 16, 2016 The newly-built Buddhist temple at Ilankaithurai – re-named Lanka Patuna by the government. A bridge is being constructed to improve access to the site for the increasing number of Sinhala visitors. Tamil Guardian co-editor and PEARL Advocacy Director Mario Arulthas travelled to Trincomalee last month to report on… Read more »
BTF: Land Grab and Cultural Genocide of the Tamils‘ Homeland on Sri Lanka
by British Tamil Forum, June 2016 Press release re numbers included in report April 2016 Land grab and cultural genocide of the Tamil land in Sri Lanka BTF Land grab and cultural colonisation of the Tamil land in Sri Lankav v7 1. Introduction. Reliable field data obtained by BTF indicates that the land currently occupied… Read more »
Some Options For Jaffna’s Economic Revival
by Kumar David, ‘Colombo Telegraph,’ July 31, 2016 My essay two weeks ago (“What Options for Jaffna Economic Revival?” on 17 July) was on the whole grim and pessimistic and it followed discussions outside the Northern Province with a NGO types, small investors and a potential venture capitalist. I had the good fortune a week… Read more »
What Options For Jaffna Economic Revival?
by Kumar David, ‘Colombo Telegraph,’ July 17, 2016 Industrial and agricultural development prospects seem bleak: What options for Jaffna economic revival? Sometimes countries rise phoenix like from the ashes of devastation and war; the best known are Germany and Japan after WW2. Others like post-crisis Central African basket-cases remain depressed basket-cases. The Northern Province, unlike the… Read more »
SL Military Strengthens Genocidal Grip on North
See ‘Tamil Guardian’ article on same subject by TamilNet, July 15, 2016 The occupying Sinhala military of genocidal Sri Lanka has put up new fences to consolidate the military-seized lands of Eezham Tamils in Valikaamam North in Jaffna within the last three days while the visiting US State Secretary for South Asia Ms Nisha Biswal… Read more »
US Asst Secretaries of State Biswal & Malinowski Visit
US Officials Insist Sustainable Peace Must Include Peace Dividend by Dharsha Bastians, ‘Daily Financial Times,’ Colombo, July 15, 2016 Visiting State Department officials insisted that accountability and reconciliation in Sri Lanka continues to be a key focus for the US Government, but defended their apparent focus on economic growth and investment on a two-day visit… Read more »
Occupation of Land by the Military in the North
by MP Sritharan in Sri Lanka Parlimentary Hansard, June 10, 2016 Page 930: http://www.parliament.lk/uploads/documents/hansard/1466495811042632.pdf Other sources of figures for this disputed issue: British Tamil Forum: 67,427… Read more »
STP: Dark Clouds Report
by Society for Threatened Peoples, Switzerland, February 2015 STP Dark Clouds tourism report In spite of this poor human rights record, the Sri Lankan government promotes a country that has returned to normality. This image of a peaceful and prosperous holiday destination is marketed aggressively in Western Europe. However, this report clearly shows the sobering… Read more »
NECC: Obligations of the GoSL & UN
by North East Coordinating Committee, June 13, 2016. Courtesy of Groundviews.org We call upon His Excellency High Commissioner of Human Rights and the Representatives of the Member States of the Human Rights Council, 32nd Session, June, 2016 OBLIGATIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA AND THE UNITED NATIONS IN SRI LANKA’S TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE PROCESS. 1…. Read more »
Colombo Beefs Up Naval Installations along Eastern Coast
by TamilNet, June 3, 2016 Emboldened with the blessings coming from the diplomatic US Establishment and its increased ‘military-to-military’ rapport with the Sinhala navy in the island, the military Establishment of genocidal Sri Lanka has stepped up its programme of militarisation and Sinhaliciation of the strategic belt in the three coastal directions of the country… Read more »
Tamils’ Land Occupied by Sri Lankan Security Forces
by British Tamil Forum, April 18, 2016 Nearly seven years after the end of the war, the Sri Lankan military is still occupying more than 96% of the land belonging to the Tamil people who were driven off their own lands, in the pretext of “national security”. Field data obtained by British Tamils Forum (BTF),… Read more »
Amb. Power Remarks
Ambassador Samantha Power U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations U.S. Mission to the United Nations New York City April 28, 2016 AS DELIVERED There were two reasons that I flew down from New York at the crack of dawn this morning to join you. The first is that I fell in love with Sri… Read more »
China, India Tussle for Influence as Sri Lanka Seeks Investment
by Gauri Bhatia, CNBC, New York, April 25, 2016 Situated almost in the middle of the Indian Ocean, there is no escaping Sri Lanka’s centrality. The country lies just a few nautical miles away from the super-busy east-west shipping route, through which an estimated 60,000 ships pass every year, carrying two-thirds of the world’s oil… Read more »
Land Occupation in the Northern Province
Land is a key issue for reconciliation in Sri Lanka. Reparations including the restitution of land, if implemented in the correct manner, can contribute to long-term peace building efforts and prevent further marginalisation of people who were affected by the war. With promises by the government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) to initiate reforms including with… Read more »
Silawathurei Large-scale Cashew Plantations
The Civil Security Force has appropriated land for cashew plantations at the boundary of Wilpattu National Park, affecting local environment, already under pressure by human settlements of returnees from the civil war.
Sampur: Documentary Trailer
Thousands of individuals from across Sri Lanka have been displaced for years, some multiple times. For over a decade, the Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA) has documented issues related to displacement and returns, advocating reform and litigating on unjust and arbitrary practices. Two cases CPA has followed closely for years, supporting litigation and advocating land… Read more »
Rising from the Embers
by Tomasz Augustyniak, ‘Quartz India,’ March 28, 2016 On Friday evenings, vans and tuk-tuks usually form long queues before Jaffna’s only shopping mall. There’s a hint of exquisite perfume in the air. Mothers in kurtas mind their colourfully attired children. Single young men sporting oversized wrist watches zip around on motorcycles. Though rare, one can… Read more »
Action on Mahaweli System B in Batticaloa
[TamilNet, Wednesday, 16 March 2016, 23:47 GMT] Maithiriapala Sirisene, the president of genocidal Sri Lanka, who visited his native district of Polonnaruwa last week, has vowed to ‘develop’ the villages that are being Sinhalicised along the border of Batticaloa and Polonnaruwa through ‘Mahaweli System B’, which is being accelerated according to his latest instructions. Hailing… Read more »
‘Tamil Areas in Sri Lanka are the Pockets of Poverty’
Regions with the highest rate of poverty in Sri Lanka are areas inhabited by Tamils, according to Sri Lanka a study of the World Bank 2015. The regions come under the districts of Mannar, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi in the Northern Province; Batticaloa in the East and plantations in Badulla district (Uva Province) and Nuwara Eliya… Read more »