At London vigil, UK Tamils seek justice
19/5/2022 6:37
Tamils who resettled in Britain
after fleeing the Sri Lankan civil war held a vigil in London on
Wednesday, with some likening the island nation's current
economic crisis to the conditions they faced during the
decades-long conflict.
The gathering of Tamils seeking justice for those from their
community who were killed in the South Asian country during the
war, coincided with Sri Lanka's worst economic crisis since its
independence in 1948 that has forced out its prime minister.
"The current crisis in Colombo reminds me of our struggles
during the war. Shortage of fuel, food, medicine - the
Tamil-dominated parts of Sri Lanka faced the same issues then as
what the entire nation is facing today," Thanikai, 42, who came
to Britain eight years ago, told Reuters.
He is amongst the hundreds of thousands of Tamils who fled
the conflict, which ended in May 2009 with the Sri Lankan
government defeating the Tamil Tiger rebels.
Human rights groups have since accused the country's
military of killing civilians towards the end of the war, in
which the rebels fought for a separate state for the Tamil
minority.
"We need justice for all the people who were killed,"
Thanikai said.
The United Nations has accused both sides of war crimes and
has been given a mandate to collect evidence.
The U.N. has also warned the failure of Sri Lanka to address
past violations has significantly heightened the risk of human
rights violations being repeated.
"My parents and friends are still in Sri Lanka but I have
been too scared to go back," said Elilarasi Manoharan, who
attended the peaceful demonstration in Trafalgar Square to mark
the 13th anniversary of the end of the war.
"But now with the economic crisis and the changes we are
seeing, maybe if the Sri Lankan system changes it will open up
doors for us to be able to visit our loved ones."
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