News

TNA calls for Geneva intervention again

Published

4 years ago

2022/02/4

On the eve of Independence day celebrations

On the eve of the 74th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s Independence, Tamil National Alliance (TNA) leader R. Sampanthan has written to all 47-member states of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) urging them to take tangible measures against Sri Lanka over its failure to fulfill commitments relating to Resolution 46/1.

The Trincomalee District MP alleged that the government hasn’t taken any steps to address the Tamil National Question as the only sure means to ensure non-recurrence of conflict. The following is the text of MP Sampantha’s letter addressed to Permanent Representatives of the member states made available to The Island by his Office:

“I write to you as the Leader of the largest Tamil Political Party (Tamil National Alliance) in the Sri Lankan Parliament in the lead up to the 49th secession of the United Nations Human Rights Council (U.N.H.R.C) when the situation in Sri Lanka is to be evaluated after the written update by the High Commissioner for Human Rights in keeping with the provisions of Resolution 46/1.

Within a week of the end of the armed ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka in May 2009, a joint communique was issued by the Government of Sri Lanka and the United Nations at the conclusion of the U.N Secretary General’s visit to Sri Lanka on 23rd of May 2009, which inter alia stated

“Sri Lanka reiterated its strongest commitment to the promotion and protection of Human Rights, in keeping with international Human Rights standards and Sri Lanka’s international obligations. The Secretary General underlined the importance of an accountability process for addressing violations of International Humanitarian and Human Rights law. The Government will take measures to address those grievances”.

Sri Lanka has not taken any meaningful steps to address the above commitments in the last twelve (12) years. During the intervening years the U.N.H.R.C has adopted seven (7) resolutions ending with U.N.H.R.C 46/1 in March 2021. Sri Lanka has meanwhile issued statements of various commitments which have largely not been implemented. In addition to not addressing the accountability issue the government of Sri Lanka continues a programme of oppression of the Sri Lankan Tamils including Militarisation, indefinite detention of political prisoners with several new arrests of also Civil Society and Media Personnel and family members and others memorializing their departed kith and kin, impeding displaced Tamil people from resettling on their lands through the actions of various Government Departments, the denial of traditional collective land rights and cattle grazing rights and intensifying surveillance of political and Civil society activists.

The most serious danger the Tamil people face is the issue of Land Grab that is going on in the pretext of archeological explorations, Wild Life protection and protecting of forest reserves., in addition to driving the Tamil people out of their traditional habitats

The government is engaged in a programme of redemarcation of divisional boundaries, and colonisation of historical Tamil speaking areas with new Sinhala settlers, so as to render any future settlement of the Tamil question nugatory. In this situation of uncertainty, Tamil people are leaving the country and seeking refuge abroad, in the interests of their own safety.

These actions of the Sri Lankan Government are intended to defeat the concept accepted both domestically and internationally that the Tamil people are a people within a united and undivided Sri Lanka inhabiting the Northern and Eastern provinces as their area of historical habitation, and thereby progressively transform the Northern and Eastern provinces into a majority Sinhala Areas.

As the U.N.H.C.R meets in February and March 2022 to evaluate the performance of the Sri Lankan government on its commitments relating to resolution No 46 / 1 we urge the member states to clearly articulate that Sri Lanka has failed in its obligations to investigate allegations of violations and not taken any steps to address the Tamil National Question as the only sure means to ensure non-recurrence.

The Tamil people request that you make your observations at the interactive sessions, and urge the Government of Sri Lanka to abide by its commitments, both in respect of accountability and settling the Tamil National Question justly and also adopt measures that will compel the Sri Lankan Government to move in the right direction in conformity with all its commitments, to ensure that we the Tamil people in Sri Lanka are able to continue to live in our Areas of Historical Habitation, the Northern and Eastern Provinces, within a United and Undivided Sri Lanka with Self- Respect, Dignity and Security.”

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News

Financial contributions received for ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund

Published

4 hours ago

2025/12/22

Priyan

The Government’s ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka’ Fund, established to provide relief and support to communities affected by Cyclone Ditwah, continues to receive financial contributions on a daily basis.

Accordingly, the Containers Transport Owners Association made a financial contribution of Rs. 1.5 million, while the Association of SriLankan Airlines Licensed Aircraft Engineers contributed Rs. 1.35 million to the Fund.

The respective cheques were formally presented to the Secretary to the President, Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday (19).

The occasion was attended by W. M. S. K. Manjula, Chairman of the Containers Transport Owners Association, together with Dilip Nihal Anslem Perera and Jayantha Karunadhipathi.

Representing the Association of SriLankan Airlines Licensed Aircraft Engineers were Deshan Rajapaksa, Samudika Perera and Devshan Rodrigo handed over the cheque.

News

UNICEF representatives and PM discuss rebuilding schools affected by the Disaster

Published

4 hours ago

2025/12/22

Priyan

A meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and a delegation of UNICEF representatives was held on Saturday, (December 20) at the Prime Minister’s Office.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister explained the measures taken by the Government to ensure the protection of the affected student community and to restore the damaged school system, as well as the challenges encountered in this process.

The Prime Minister stated that reopening schools located in landslide-prone areas would be extremely dangerous. Accordingly, the Government is focusing on identifying such schools and relocating them to suitable locations based on scientific assessments.

The Prime Minister further noted that financial assistance has been provided to students affected by the disaster, enabling parents to send their children back to school without an additional financial burden. Emphasizing that school is the safest place for children after their homes, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the school environment would help restore and improve students’ mental well-being

The Prime Minister also highlighted that attention has been given to several key areas, including the relocation of disaster-affected schools, restoration of school infrastructure, merging and operating certain schools jointly, facilitating teaching and learning through digital and technological strategies, and providing special transportation facilities. She emphasized that the Government is examining these issues and is committed to finding long-term solutions.

The UNICEF representatives commended the Government’s commitment and the initiatives undertaken to restore the education sector and assured their support to the Government. Both parties also discussed working together collaboratively on future initiatives.

The meeting was attended by the UNICEF representatives to Sri Lanka Emma Brigham, Lakshmi Sureshkumar, Nishantha Subash, and Yashinka Jayasinghe, along with Secretary to the Ministry of Education Nalaka Kaluwewa, Director of Education Dakshina Kasturiarachchi, Deputy Directors Kasun Gunarathne and Udara Dikkumbura.

(Prime Minister’s Media Division)

News

NMRA laboratory lacks SLAB accreditation

Published

5 hours ago

2025/12/22

Thilina Walpola

Dr. Sanjeewa

Drug controversy:

“Setting up state-of-the-art drug testing facility will cost Rs 5 billion”

Activists call for legal action against politicians, bureaucrats

Serious questions have been raised over Sri Lanka’s drug regulatory system following revelations that the National Medicines Regulatory Authority’s (NMRA) quality control laboratory is not accredited by the Sri Lanka Accreditation Board (SLAB), casting doubt on both the reliability of local test results and the adequacy of oversight of imported medicines.

Medical and civil rights groups warn that the issue points to a systemic regulatory failure rather than an isolated lapse, with potential political and financial consequences for the State.

Chairman of the Federation of Medical and Civil Rights Professional Associations, Specialist Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, said the controversy surrounding the Ondansetron injection, which was later found to be contaminated, had exposed deep weaknesses in drug regulation and quality assurance.

Dr. Sanjeewa said that the manufacturer had confirmed that the drug had been imported into Sri Lanka on four occasions this year, despite later being temporarily withdrawn from use. The drug was manufactured in India in November 2024 and in May and August 2025, and imported to Sri Lanka in February, July and September. On each occasion, 67,600 phials were procured.

Dr. Sanjeewa said the company had informed the NMRA that the drug was tested in Indian laboratories, prior to shipment, and passed all required quality checks. The manufacturer reportedly tested the injections against 10 parameters, including basic quality standards,

pH value, visual appearance, component composition, quantity per phial, sterility levels, presence of other substances, bacterial toxin levels and spectral variations.

According to documents submitted to the NMRA, no bacterial toxins were detected in the original samples, and the reported toxin levels were within European safety limits of less than 9.9 international units per milligram.

Dr. Sanjeewa said the credibility of local regulatory oversight had come under scrutiny, noting that the NMRA’s quality control laboratory was not SLAB-accredited. He said establishing a fully equipped, internationally accredited laboratory would cost nearly Rs. 5 billion.

He warned that the failure to invest in such a facility could have grave consequences, including continued loss of life due to substandard medicines and the inability of the State to recover large sums of public funds paid to pharmaceutical companies for defective drugs.

“If urgent steps are not taken, public money will continue to be lost and accountability will remain elusive,” Dr. Sanjeewa said.

He added that if it was ultimately confirmed that the drug did not contain bacterial toxins at the time it entered Sri Lanka, the fallout would be even more damaging, severely undermining the credibility of the country’s health system and exposing weaknesses in health administration.

Dr. Sanjeewa said public trust in the health sector had already been eroded and called for legal action against all politicians and public officials responsible for regulatory failures linked to the incident.

by Chaminda Silva ✍️