Harper urged to locate Canadian Embassy branch in Jaffna
Citing difficulties faced by relatives of Tamil constituents of Pickering-Scarborough East in accessing Canadian Embassy located in Colombo, Mr. Dan McTeague, Canadian parliamentarian, in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Harper, urged him to consider locating an Canadian Embassy branch in Jaffna. The MP also pointed out to the Prime Minister that Colombo is engaged in "ethnic cleansing," and continues to "marginalize the Tamil population."

I am drawing the attention of the international Tamil community to the outrageous harassment of Dr Brian Senewiratne by the Brisbane City Council (BCC). It could result in Dr Senewiratne dropping out of the struggle of the Tamil people, and getting back to full-time Medicine. Should this happen, the loss to Tamil struggle for justice will be serious. The problem is that the BCC has decided to acquire Dr Senewiratne’s land and pay peanuts as compensation. As a ‘softening up’ process, he (75) and his wife (73) have been charged for clearing lantana (a noxious weed) – which, incidentally, the BCC ordered him to clear, and then charged him for clearing it in a manner unacceptable to Council! BCC filed a criminal charge, yes, believe it or not, a criminal charge, for allegedly damaging ‘precious vegetation’ (growing on his land, mind you). Lawyers appearing for the BCC advised Dr Senewiratne and his wife to lead “Guilty”, adding that BCC had $1.5 billion (of rate-payer’s money) to fight the case if he chose to do otherwise. Dr and Mrs Senewiratne rightly refused to plead ‘Guilty’ and went ahead defending themselves. Their legal charges have now amounted to quarter of a million dollars and this is likely to increase, since the BCC has said that if the judgement goes against them, they will appeal. The cost of defending a case in the Appeal Court is $35,000 a day.

Australian police arrested a 27-year-old Indian doctor they believe was connected to the foiled terror attacks in London and Glasgow, and were interviewing a second doctor in the case, officials said Tuesday.Meanwhile, a bomb disposal team in Scotland carried out a controlled explosion on a vehicle there Tuesday, a day after at two other physicians - an Iraqi and a Palestinian - were also identified as suspects in a series of failed car bomb attacks.Police seized 27-year-old Muhammad Haneef at the international airport in the eastern city of Brisbane, where he was trying to board a flight with a one-way ticket late Monday, Attorney General Philip Ruddock told reporters in the capital Canberra.

A Tamil family from Sri Lanka, with two children, is having difficulties in finding a place for their stay in Brisbane.They are refugees and currently supported by Refugee Claimant Support Centre. Please contact Gaby on 07 3357 9013, Refugee Claimant Support Centre, to offer your kind support. Tamil Community Organisations, Coordinating Committees and  Religious Organisations in brisbane are encouraged to help this needy tamil family.

Sri Lanka no more a tourist paradise - Dark days in paradise says Sydney Morning Herald

The Sri Lankan Presidential Commission appointed by the President Mahinda Rajapakse to investigate a widespread killings and disappearances most of them from the minority Tamils in the North and East of Sri Lanka where they are fighting for an independent homeland.The Commission said today, between September 2006 and February 2007 some 430 people were slain and most of them were Tamils from country’s minority community. During the same September to February period, a total of 2,020 people were either abducted or disappeared, Tillakaratne said who was appointed by President Mahinda Rajapakse to look into these abductions, disappearances and unsolved killings last year. 

International Commission of Jurists says, "...In his "addendum" report Michael Birnbaum QC makes a detailed analysis of all the forensic reports now available relating to the killings, and in particular, the recently published report of an eminent Australian pathologist, Dr. Malcolm Dodd. At post mortems on the bodies of exhumed victims carried out in October 2006, eight bullets were recovered from seven bodies. Mr Birnbaum compared the descriptions of those bullets given by the two pathologists Dr. Waidaratne and Dr. Dodd, with those given in the report of the Government Analyst. Dr. Dodd found that one of the eight bullets was of 5.56 calibre. In contrast, the Government Analyst concluded that all of the bullets appeared to be of 7.62 calibre. There is therefore evidence to indicate that the 5.56 calibre bullet was removed from the evidence submitted as exhibits to the Kantale Magistrate, and that another bullet of a different type was substituted. .."

TamilBrisbane.com : 83 Sri Lankan Tamils seeking Political Asylum, currently detained in Nauru Island recently sent an appeal to the Tamil Diaspora during World Refugees Week. In the appeal they say, "You would have experienced the atrocities, its consequences and the threats against our community while in Sri Lanka. You may be aware that the atrocities and the threats that we experienced in Sri Lanka is far worse than those you experienced, and what is happening now is still worse. The international community is fully aware of the atrocities and the threats facing the Tamils living in any part of Sri Lanka. "

83 Sri Lankan Tamil Asylum Seekers Nauru ask support from Tamil Diaspora on Refugees Week

Brisbane Tamil School Annual Sports Meet 2007 - Photo Gallery  2