Photograph courtesy 20th June is World Refugee Day. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced globally. I have heard that close to one…
Image from Religious minorities in Sri Lanka – particularly Muslims and Evangelical Christians – faced serious persecution under the Rajapakse Government, which has continued even under the Sirisena-Ranil Government. The Catholic Archbishop…
Sellamma is 83 years old. She has a house in Puthukudiyiruppu (PTK) East, Ward no. 7, in the Mullaitivu district in the Northern Province. It’s opposite the PTK Divisional Secretariat (DS). But…
Photo by Jessica Sallabank, from IRIN Jesus was born as a refugee child. When Mary, the pregnant mother on the move couldn’t find a place to give birth, it was poor shepherds…
Photo courtesy Sampsonia Way Today, 1st Oct. 2016, I came the Bandaranayake international airport in Sri Lanka to travel to London. I was asked by the officer at the immigration counter to…
Featured image courtesy the New York Times/Patricia Williams Ever since Sunila passed away 3 years ago, I have wanted to write about her, but found it difficult to articulate my experiences and…
I’m thankful to British Tamils Forum (BTF) for inviting me to share some reflections and thoughts on this occasion. Many of you gathered for this commemoration might be Tamils. Some may be…
Image courtesy Today’s event focuses on one man. Today morning, there was a protest in Colombo, organized by a coalition of media freedom groups and others, demanding accountability for Sivaram’s murder. It…
Featured image courtesy ICMP It is significant for me to talk about civil society’s role on disappearances at an event organized by Law and Society Trust (LST) because it was at LST…
Image courtesy BBC On 28th December 2015, the Nuwara Eliya High Court delivered a historic judgment: two men were each sentenced to 23 years rigorous imprisonment and ordered to pay Rs. 200,000 in…
Picture from ICMP In the 35 year history of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (“WGEID”), Sri Lanka ranks number two, shamefully, in the numbers of disappearance cases…
Image via 91News The fast by prisoners last month has given rise to fresh debate about justice for them. It is a sad reflection on Sri Lankan people and the new Government…
Image courtesy Last week, Tamil children in the North of Sri Lanka reportedly took to the streets to demand the release of their parents detained for years[1] under anti-terror laws[2]. This was…
9 years ago, on 20th August 2006, Fr. Jim Brown and Mr. Vimalathas disappeared after having been last seen at a Navy checkpoint in Allaipiddy, Jaffna[1]. Few days before, Fr. Jim Brown had…
Image courtesy The Remnant Trust To me, the essence of Magna Carta is limiting the sovereignty and powers of the rulers (King at that time) and moving towards reaffirmation of sovereignty and…
