Sinhala families to be settled in Jaffna with Chinese assistance

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 02 November 2010, 05:33 GMT]
Colombo government has decided to settle the Sinhala families claiming they were IDPS and demading resettlement in Jaffna on the coastal areas of Jaffna Fort and Ma’niyam-thoaddam in Kozhumpuththu’rai, sources in Jaffna said. Parts of prefabricated houses donated by China to construct 12,000 houses in the areas from Mu'rika'ndi to Mullaiththeevu to settle Sinhala families have been brought to Jaffna to construct houses for the Sinhala families. The Sinhala families claiming resettlement are lodged in the Old Jaffna Railway Station where they had arrived in early October and are looked after by the Sri Lanka Army in Jaffna.
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UN reforms and nations without state

[TamilNet, Monday, 01 November 2010, 21:59 GMT]
Indian media campaigns for permanent membership to India in the UN Security Council. But another opinion appearing in the Indian media show how far the Indian state, riding on the masses for the benefit of a few, is different from the peoples of India. Permanent membership to such an India or to any others in the already vicious and outdated Security Council is not the answer to the current global turmoil. It will further aggravate subservience of humanity to the Establishments. The UN and particularly Indian behaviour on Eezham Tamils is a lesson to humanity. Nations and the oppressed inside India should be the first to oppose India’s permanent seat as they would be the first to face the brunt of it. Meanwhile, nations without state all over the world should work for veto-powered collective say in UN to achieve balance for peace, writes TamilNet political commentator in Colombo.
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German parliamentary delegation to visit Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2010, 11:15 GMT]
A German Parliamentary delegation headed by Dagmar Ernstberger, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group on South Asia, will arrive in Colombo Tuesday on a four day visit for the first time after the end of the war to obtain a first-hand impression on progress made and of challenges ahead. The main objective is to gain first-hand experience on post conflict development activities in the country. They will also visit the Northern Province and inspect the de-mining activities and resettled villages, the German Embassy sources in Colombo said.
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Mavai Senathirajah refutes Jaffna GA’s statement on Valikaamam HSZ issue

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2010, 07:58 GMT]
“I am one of the victims uprooted from the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) High Security Zone 20 years ago and the petition filed by me in court seeking resettlement is pending inquiry. It is ridiculous for Jaffna Government Agent Ms. Imelda Sukumar to claim that there are no HSZs in Jaffna peninsula,” Mavai Senathirajah, Tamil Natilonal Alliance (TNA) Jaffna district parliamentarian said. Ms. Imelda Sukumar, speaking at the event of the handing over of furniture by SLA to Jaffna Teaching Hospital Saturday had claimed that there were no HSZs in Jaffna peninsula but only areas which need to be cleared of landmines.
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War affected women in North exploited by SL ministry agents

[TamilNet, Sunday, 31 October 2010, 06:04 GMT]
Sri Lanka government ministries affected by the slump in garment exports due to the loss of GSP Plus face an acute shortage of workers in the garment industries in the South. The workers, mostly women, have left due to drastic pay cuts. The ministries now attempt to lure war affected young women in the North to work in the garment factories in the South at much lower salary. In this context, two groups of young women from Thellippazhai and Uduvil Divisional Secretariat areas in Jaffna have been taken to Colombo Thursday by the agents of some ministries, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, an attempt to entice some war affected young women in Ki’linochchi in Vanni with employment by a company in Kandy with the intention of misusing them had been stopped with the timely intervention of local social activists.
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Denmark Tamils take legal step to file war-crimes charges

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 16:25 GMT]
Bjørn Elmquist, a Danish attorney specializing in criminal law on crimes against humanity has written to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague Netherlands to bring war crimes charges against Sri Lankan officials alleged to have committed war-crimes against Tamils in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka. The legal effort is being initiated by three Danish Tamils and the Denmark Tamil Forum. The DTF officials told TamilNet that the Danish legal effort is being closely co-ordinated with the recent legal action undertaken by Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils (SCET).
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Court remands student leader, UNP condemns arrest

[TamilNet, Saturday, 30 October 2010, 13:48 GMT]
The Colombo Magistrate Friday ordered remand for Udul Premaratne, Convener of the Inter University Students Federation (IUSF), a student front organization of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), till November 12. Premaratne was produced in court after detention and interrogation at the office of the Nugegoda Division Superintendent of Police.
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Malaysian Tamils protest Indian PM inaugurating their township

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 18:25 GMT]
Around 200 Malaysians gathered Wednesday to protest Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurating ‘Little India’ in Brickfields, Malaysia, were dispersed when police arrested key leaders, Free Malaysia Today reported Thursday. The protestors questioned the rationale of naming the area ‘Little India’ when most traders doing business there for the past three centuries were Tamils. The protestors were also unhappy about Malaysian government choosing Manmohan Singh to preside over the launch. Manmohan Singh was least concerned about Tamil welfare, “Look at what happened in Sri Lanka. The Tamils were massacred by the Sri Lankan army but he was very quiet about it. The Sri Lankan army also attacked Tamil fishermen in Rameswaram (India) but Manmohan was mum about it as well,” M S Arjunan, a Malaysian Tamil leader said.
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Police arrest University Student leader

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 10:13 GMT]
Sri Lanka police arrested Udul Premaratna, Convener of the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF), a front of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Friday morning shortly after a delegation of the IUSF met the leaders of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) at its Sri Kotha office. Premaratna was arrested by policemen in uniform outside Sri Kotha when he came out after having discussions with UNP parliamentarians Karu Jayasuriya, Tissa Attanayake and Ruwan Wijewardene.
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Jaffna police unaware of whereabouts of abducted Tamil Nadu traders

[TamilNet, Friday, 29 October 2010, 05:26 GMT]
The officer-in-charge of Jaffna police said that he does not have any information of the textile traders from Tamil Nadu abducted Saturday morning in Jaffna town from the lodges they were staying in, in response to questions raised by local media. He declined to answer when asked whether the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers from Colombo had arrested them. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Army (SLA) spokesman in Colombo said that the traders may have been arrested for overstaying their tourist visa period. No official information about the abducted traders is available.
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SLA targets prominent Tamil businessmen in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 12:58 GMT]
Sri Lanka Army (SLA) in Jaffna has cast its net wide to arrest around 163 leading Tamil traders in Jaffna on charges that they had funded Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the past, Jaffna Traders Association (JTA) circles said. Some of them had been already arrested and detained after being interrogated in the notorious ‘Fourth Floor’ of the SLA Intelligence Wing in Colombo. SLA is engaged in rounding up the prominent Tamil traders claiming that it has evidence of their involvement with LTTE found in the statements of the traders in their detention, the sources added. The real motive behind this move is to cripple the prominent Tamil traders in Jaffna to eliminate them competing with the Sinhala traders who continue to invade Jaffna since the opening of A9 land route, JTA circles said.
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Britain reiterates support for independent inquiry into Sri Lanka war crimes

[TamilNet, Thursday, 28 October 2010, 00:39 GMT]
British Prime Minister David Cameron Wednesday reiterated his government’s support for an independent inquiry into war crimes committed during the closing stages of Sri Lanka’s protracted war. Mr. Cameron comments on his government’s stance, made in response to a question from opposition MP Siobhian McDonagh, come a week after similar comments by British Foreign Secretary William Hague in the wake of his meeting with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Prof. G. L. Peiris.
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SLA claims removal of road blocks, check points in Colombo

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 16:44 GMT]
The removal of road blocks and check points between Wellawatte and Bambalapity in the Colombo district commenced Wednesday. This is being done due to the improved security situation in the country and with the advanced surveillance system now put in place, according to media spokesman Major General Ubhaya Medawela to local media Wednesday morning.
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Undergrad Buddhist monks allegedly attack university officials

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 13:51 GMT]
A group of monk undergraduates of the Sri Jayawardenepura University in Colombo allegedly attacked some university officials, accompanying Vice Chancellor Dr. N. L. A. Karunaratne, when they visited the monk hostel on Sunday night, The Island reported Monday. According to the Vice Chancellor, the attack took place when he and the officials visited the hostel to inquire on a complaint they had received from the people of the area that their children could not study at night due to the din from the hostel.
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Controversy over ICRC employees giving tractors to Sinhala people in North

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 27 October 2010, 08:43 GMT]
The Governor of Northern Province, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, the former Sri Lanka Army (SLA) Commander of Jaffna district, has ordered SLA intelligence officers to probe into the allegation that ICRC employees in North had issued some of the two-wheel land master vehicles meant for the war affected farmers in the North to Sinhala men, sources in Jaffna said. But it is alleged that the Governor himself had instructed the employees to give the vehicles to Sinhala men. Meanwhile, the Governor is said to be very upset about photos appearing in various local and international websites and media showing the Chief of ICRC in the North shedding tears in the vicinity of a refugee camp and the inquiry launched by him is a but ploy to get hold of the persons who had sent the said photos to the media, the sources added.
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Nurses stage token protest in major hospitals in Sri Lanka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 06:44 GMT]
Medical nurses in ten major government hospitals in Sri Lanka abstained from duties for three hours Monday from 8:00 a.m to 9:00 a.m demanding Sri Lanka government to meet the four demands placed by their trade union. The nurses in Jaffna Teaching Hospital too took part in the token protest demonstration, sources in Jaffna said. Meanwhile, the protesting nurses had sat in front of the National Hospital in Colombo Monday for an hour as a sign of their protest demonstration. The nurses will extend the boycott from duties in all the hospitals of the country if SL government fails to meet their demands, the sources added.
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Former Chief Justice demands release of Fonseka

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 04:49 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s former Chief Justice Sarath Nanda Silva Monday signed a public petition demanding Sri Lanka government to release Sarath Fonseka, the former Commander of the Sri Lanka from Welikada prison where the latter is serving a jail sentence on being found guilty by the Second Court Martial for involvement in politics while serving the army. The petition is to be submitted to Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa shortly. The event of signing the petition was held at J. R. Jayawardene Centre Monday, sources in Colombo said.
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Foreign remittances boost Sri Lanka economy, says state run daily

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 October 2010, 01:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka is expected to earn US $3.8 billion in foreign remittances by the end of the year from the Sri Lankan expatriates working abroad, an increase from the $3.3B received last year, the state run Dinamina newspaper said. The amount represents the largest remittance received by Sri Lanka in a single year, the article said.
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Sri Lankan state paper highlights 'return' of Tamil refugees from India

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2010, 17:32 GMT]
67 refugees who fled to India during the war, have returned on October 21st, 2010, the state owned Dinamina newspaper said Sunday in a front page article. Meanwhile, Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu say they find themselves in a desperate situation either to face a long term genocide in the island by returning to the island to safeguard their lands from the Sinhala Army of colonisation. Informed media circles in Colombo said New Delhi was negotiating with Colombo on returning Tamil refugees.
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TID arrests DPF trade union secretary

[TamilNet, Sunday, 24 October 2010, 11:36 GMT]
Sri Lanka Terrorist Investigations Department (TID) arrested L. Barathithasan, Trade Union Secretary of the Democratic Peoples Front (DPF) Saturday allegedly for aiding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. A team of the TID in charge of the Central Province took him to custody and brought him to TID headquarters in Colombo for interrogation, police said.
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