Press release

March 09, 2018 London, Washington DC, Canberra: The US Tamil Political Action Council (USTPAC), the British Tamils Forum (BTF) and the Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) express our deepest sympathies to the victims of the recent anti-Muslim pogrom in the Kandy and Amparai districts in Sri Lanka. We are deeply frustrated that ethnic violence

On February 4 Sri Lanka marks its 70th year of independence from Britain. Historically, this day has been a painful one for the Tamils both who live in Sri Lanka and those who have been forced into exile by discrimination and anti-Tamil violence. Tamil dignitaries and politicians did not attend the ceremonies celebrating the event from 1972 to 2014 in protest for the exclusion of the Tamil population from the political, economic, and cultural life of the country and the elimination of protections for non-Sinhalese Buddhist communities left embedded in the constitution at independence.

In a recent meeting with Rt. Hon Alistair Burt MP – the Foreign Office Minister responsible  for South  Asia, British Tamils expressed their disappointment at the Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to  visit Sri Lanka in November 2013, for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).  In the meeting, which was facilitated by the British Tamils Forum, Tamil representatives from a number  of Tamil groups based in the UK explained to the minister the reasons why the UK Government should  reconsider its decision to attend CHOGM in Sri Lanka. They further reasoned that this Commonwealth  summit in Sri Lanka would be against the fundamental political values of the Commonwealth and the  Commonwealth charter signed by the Queen on Commonwealth Day this year.    The  delegation  explained  the  culture  of  impunity,  lack  of  accountability  and  continuing  structural  genocide against Tamils in Sri Lanka ‐ describing both historical and current events and discussing their  moral and legal ramifications. They criticised the UK’s role in the failure to protect Tamils in 2009 and  the  failure  to bring Sri Lanka  to account ever  since – a  failure  that  sets  the conditions  for continued  abuses with impunity by the Sri Lankan state. The Minister was sympathetic to the concerns expressed  by the Tamil representatives but differed on the suggested course of action to address these concerns.  The  delegation  also  pointed  out  to  the  minister  the  failure  of  the  UK’s  strategy:  soft  diplomatic  engagement and influence has still not delivered justice to the victims though the war ended over four  years ago.   The Minister, in his  response declined  the delegation’s suggestion for a boycott or venue change  for 

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