Melani Manel Perera

V. Anandasangaree, president of TULF, writes to the head of the Tigers, accusing him of having installed a regime of terror and of having thrown the country into an abyss of poverty and pain: “the situation is out of control, the only solution is to negotiate federalism”.

In a message published in two local Catholic papers, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka expresses its solidarity with Tamils forced to leave abandon homes and livelihood. Bishops call for respect of the constitution’s human rights provisions.

Marist founder, Fr Marcellin Champagnat, was celebrated in Negombo on June 10. His feast day, which went under the banner of “One heart one mission”, was also marked by another special event, the first assembly of Marist laymen. Educating and taking care of the young, especially in the most distressed areas, is their mission.

Tourism and Defence ministries re-establish Tourist Police Division to ensure security in tourist areas and protect tourists. People in the tourist sector hope it might re-launch the industry.

Government expresses regrets over the forced eviction of almost 400 Tamils from the capital, ostensibly for security reasons, saying police made a mistake. After many protests Supreme Court blocks eviction order and removal to northern native villages.

Human rights organisations slam government decision to forcibly repatriate hundreds of Tamils, supposedly without good reasons to be in the capital, to their native village. The authorities claim they had to act for security reasons, but many people charge the government’s action can only widen “the gap between the island’s two main ethnic groups and accentuate Tamils’ marginalisation”

Various moments of reflection marked the end of the month dedicated to soldiers fallen in the civil war. The initiative, wanted by president Rajapakse, found favour in the population, even if many urge the government to remember that “many of the victims of this senseless war are civilians”.

In a meeting with Catholic bishops, President Rajapakse accepts Church proposal to guarantee safety to pilgrims visiting the island nation’s most famous Marian shrine. Christians but also Buddhists and Hindus rejoice, hopeful that these words of peace will not remain an empty statement but turn instead into concrete actions.

In a meeting last week organised by the National Fisheries Solidarity, fishermen talk about their hardships. They slam local authorities for failing to help them after the tsunami and now. In an attempt to develop the tourist sector, local officials are selling off land where once stood the homes of poor fishermen and their families.

Yesterdays attacks on the outskirts of the capital killed at least 8 people mainly civilians. The government accuses the Tamil Tiger rebels, who deny all involvement. The nation’s people are tired of both sides propaganda and demand to know “who is responsible for the continuous death of the innocent”. An appeal to the authorities: “Return to peace negotiations”.

In his first visit to the region the president asks local authorities to guarantee rights and social assistance to the thousands of Sri Lankan immigrant workers. Kuwait alone hosts 135 thousand most of whom are women; women represent 80% of the migrating working force of former Ceylon and the second voice in foreign representation. But they continue to be victims of abuse and discrimination.

The intensification of the military confrontation between rebels and army has forced the International Red Cross to pull its staff from the north of the country. A Catholic weekly urges Catholics to reject violence and calls on the government to show Tamil Tigers its good faith by creating a zone of peace around the country’s most famous Marian shrine