BTF News
Sri Lanka on alarming path towards recurrence of grave human rights violations – UN report
GENEVA (27 January 2021) – A new UN report published on Wednesday warns that the failure of Sri Lanka to address past violations has significantly heightened the risk of human rights violations being repeated. It highlights worrying trends over the past year, such as deepening impunity, increasing militarization of governmental functions, ethno-nationalist rhetoric, and intimidation of civil society. Nearly 12
Thai Pongal 2021: Self-Reliance in Tamil Heritage Event
Thai Pongal is a Tamil harvest festival to thank the sun for agricultural abundance. On 14th January 2021, British Tamils Forum (BTF) hosted Thai Pongal 2021: Self-Reliance in Tamil Heritage online via Zoom webinar with a live feed to Facebook and YouTube. Due to COVID-19, we were not able to hold this event at the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, as
Tamils’ right to remember and mourn denied again
Tamil Diaspora organizations condemn the removal of the Mullivaikaal Monument in the University of Jaffna on 8 Jan 2021 Geneva, January 10, 2021: A monument that was erected at the University of Jaffna in the north of Sri Lanka to commemorate the tens of thousands of Tamils, including several university students, massacred by the Sri Lankan state at #Mullivaikaal in
Apply Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime against Sri Lankan Perpetrators
The United Kingdom recently brought forward its Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime Act into practice, to terminate the continued impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of serious human rights abuses and violations. However, the Tamil Community has thus far been disappointed with the Act due to the exclusions of the perpetrators of the mass violations and inhuman atrocities of the Government of
Let the Spirit of Thileepan unite Tamils globally
For Immediate Release September 25, 2020 On 15th September 1987, Thileepan began his hunger strike, demanding that the Indian government honour the pledges it had made to the Tamil people as part of the Indo-Lanka Accord. We honour Thiagi Thileepan’s sacrifice for the political aspirations of the Tamil people. Thileepan’s fast lasted 12 days, during which he was surrounded by over
BLACK JULY 1983 REMEBRANCE PANEL DISCUSSION “THEM” Vs “US”
I am not worried about the opinion of the Jaffna (Tamil) people now. Now we cannot think of ‘THEM’. Not about their lives or their opinion on ‘Us’. This was said to have been quoted in an interview to the Daily Telegraph dated 11 July 1983, just two weeks before the Black July 1983 Sinhala mob attack by then President
Apply Global Human Rights sanctions regime on Sri Lanka
Apply Global Human Rights sanctions regime on Sri Lanka The British Tamils Forum today welcomes the United Kingdom for imposing a Global Human Rights sanctions regime targeting those involved in some of the most serious human rights violations around the world. BTF declared, “This new legal authority will help prevent human rights violations and will preclude those who have committed
BTF meeting with the UK’s Shadow Foreign Minister Stephen Kinnock and Shadow Exchequer Secretary Wes Streeting
The British Tamils Forum (BTF) had a very constructive meeting with the UK’s Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific, Stephen Kinnock and Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Wes Streeting. Together we raised concerns over the Sri Lankan Government’s current actions and the way forward to achieve justice, peace, and prosperity for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. We made
Militarisation of governance, demographic change and the future of democracy in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced an all-Sinhala Task Force on Archeological Heritage Management on June 2, which includes Buddhist monks, military officers and the head of the Derana media network, to “preserve the historical heritage of Sri Lanka” in the island’s Eastern Province. The announcement, made through a Gazette No. 2178/17, comes after the president met with the Buddhist Maha
Burning Jaffna library, an intent of genocide
“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.” – Heinrich Heine – a German poet, writer and literary critic. Today is the 39th anniversary of the burning down of Jaffna library on 31st May 1981 by the Sinhala mob brought down from the South of Sri Lanka by senior ministers of the Sri Lankan state. This is a key