News

Sri Lankan Government puppet mounts scare campaign

E-mail Print PDF
The Australian Tamil Congress urges the Australian media to rely on verifiable information from credible sources when dealing with sensitive issues.
The article titled "Half of Sri Lankan arrivals have ties to Tigers" which appeared in The Australian on 14 July 2010 relies heavily on Sergei DeSilva-Ranasinghe, a self proclaimed defence analyst whom investigation reveals is only a Masters Student.
His inflammatory claims are not sourced but he has the gall to claim that credible and researched positions such as that of the UNHCR are "ridiculous". His posturing clearly outlines his ulterior motive of a smear campaign targeting the Tamil people. His reference to Sri Lankan Government claims that asylum seekers have Tiger connections cannot be relied upon. The Sri Lankan government, now facing a potential war crimes investigation has systemically sought to label Tamils as Tigers or potential terrorists in order to justify their collective punishment of a persecuted minority.
A similar campaign against Tamil asylum seekers in Canada was waged by the now discredited academic, Rohan Gunaratne. The Canadian media reported last week these claims had been proven to be fabricated -
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/proof+migrants+were+Tamil+Tigers/3259322/story.html.
Clearly this agenda of labelling is being spread to Australia.
"Why would one publish an article from a self anointed defence analyst with obvious vested interests in spreading rumour and mistruths about the Tamils?" asks Dr Sam Pari, spokesperson for the Australian Tamil Congress.
Media contact:
Dr Sam Pari – 0433 428 967
 

Australian Tamil youth runs for Federal Senate

E-mail Print PDF

  The Australian - Tamil refugee, Brami Jegan, seeks Senate seat

 

Senate Greens candidate Brami Jegan, a former banker and journalist, at
Sydney's Darling Harbour. Picture: Amos Aikman *Source:* The Australian

"I know, my background is a bit different," the newly anointed Greens Senate
candidate says with a laugh. "But I've got nothing to hide. I'm here because
I want to contribute to our society."
Read more...
 

ABC Unleashed – Asylum seekers set sail in a sea of silence

E-mail Print PDF
"Boat people’ not just an Immigration issue for Australia but also one
of Foreign Policy writes ATC spoeksperson, Dr Sam Pari

ABC Unleashed – Asylum seekers set sail in a sea of silence
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2946853.htm
 

Australian Tamil Congress welcomes Australia's new Prime Minister

E-mail Print PDF

The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) welcomes the announcement of Hon. Julia Gillard as our Prime Minister. The ATC Womens Advocacy Team is in particular proud to note Hon. Julia Gillard is our first female leader of the country.

 

Australian Tamil Congress Welcomes Senate Motion

E-mail Print PDF

The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) welcomes the motion on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka proposed by Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and passed with support from all major parties in the Australian Senate on Thursday 24 June 2010.

Following Tuesday's announcement by the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General of a three-member advisory panel on alleged human rights abuses during the final stages of Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009, the ATC hopes the UN will soon take the next step towards actually investigating these alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

SENATE MOTION:

That the Senate:
(a) notes:
(i) the recent report from the International Crisis Group on War Crimes in Sri Lanka;
(ii) this report recommends, among other things, for the United Nations to conduct an independent international inquiry into the alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka during the last year of the conflict;
(b) welcomes:
(i) The United Nations Secretary General’s establishment of an Advisory Panel on Sri Lanka;
(ii) The establishment in Sri Lanka of a Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission, and urges the Sri Lankan Government to ensure the Commission operates in an independent way; and
(c) reaffirms the importance of credible investigations into all allegations of violations of human rights, and
(d) Calls on the Australian Government to support an effective process of national reconciliation, to allow Sri Lanka to move forward after years of conflict

 

Tamil women denied the right to live in peace

E-mail Print PDF

An article by Kalyani Inpakumar, who heads the Women’s Advocacy Group of the Australian Tamil Congress. She also a leading member of the Global Tamil Women Forum, which is part of the Global Tamil Forum - an international organisation for Tamil solidarity. She can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In developing parts of the world like Sri Lanka, women remain more or less subjugated, writes Kalyani Inpakumar.

As Tamils in Australia, we feel for our brothers and sisters back home in Sri Lanka. The Australian Tamil Congress (ATC) was formed to unit all the Tamil organisations to make our voice more powerful.

ATC is part of a global organisation which is Global Tamil Forum and in March Global Tamil Women’s Forum was also launched.

I am from Tamil Eelam, a land that has been torn by the struggles of war for the last 30 years. 

Women are the most vulnerable victims in armed conflicts and post conflict situations. No age group is sheltered from the heinous acts of rape, sexual harassment, trafficking, prostitution and murder. 

Read more here: http://www.thescavenger.net/people/tamil-women-denied-right-to-live-in-peace-29674.html

 

Australia concedes Tamil Tiger concerns

E-mail Print PDF
 Australia's Immigration Minister Senator Chris Evans has conceded
there are concerns about suspected Tamil Tiger rebels being sent back
 to Sri Lanka.

The government and the Australian Tamil Congress say an international
report has highlighted some issues.

The International Crisis Group has called for an independent inquiry
into last year's civil war in Sri Lanka and says there's evidence of
war crimes committed by both sides.

Dr Sam Pari from the Australian Tamil Congress has welcomed the
report, especially the call for any potential witnesses to be
protected.

"Because if they're sent back the Sri Lankan government will target
them," he said

Senator Evans says while its too early to speculate, sending a
suspected Tamil Tiger back is an issue.

"Clearly there is a major problem with the idea of returning serious
former Tamil Tiger operatives to Sri Lanka without very strong
assurances from the Sri Lankan government," he said.

Earlier this year, the Australian Government froze asylum applications
from Tamils, saying conditions in Sri Lanka were improving.

 

ABC AM – Sri Lanka not safe for war crimes witnesses

E-mail Print PDF

The International Crisis Group has called on Australia to support an inquiry into alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

A Crisis Group report found tens of thousands of Tamils were killed or wounded and hundreds of thousands were denied food and medical care during the last five months of the Sri Lankan civil war.

The report says there are reasonable grounds to believe both the Sri Lankan security forces and the Tamil Tigers committed war crimes last year.

The Crisis Group has urged Australia to grant asylum or protected status to potential witnesses.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2010/s2902252.htm

 

     
  • «
  •  Start 
  •  Prev 
  •  1 
  •  2 
  •  3 
  •  Next 
  •  End 
  • »
Page 1 of 3

Taken from the TamilJustice blog

Australian Tamil Congress cannot be held liable for any Tamil Justice posts. Opinions appearing on Tamil Justice are only those of the authors and do not reflect the position of Australian Tamil Congress. Tamil Justice is an independent blog run by individuals that provides daily coverage of domestic and international events relating to Tamil issues. The Australian Tamil Congress has chosen to publish posts from Tamil Justice purely as a resource to keep our members updated on current news events.
Tamil Justice
  • Democracy in SL in shambles
    ABC Radio Australia – Concern Sri Lanka is sliding towards autocracy Sri Lanka’s parliament has approved a raft of changes to its constitution, giving more power to the President and prompting concerns of a slide towards autocracy. The changes will allow President Mahinda Rajapaksa to seek a third term and remove some of the checks [...]
  • What’s next post the UN hearing on Aust?
    The Age (Sep 7) – Admitting our racism problem is first step to a solution The UN called it, and we need to ditch the denial if we’re to start fixing it. AT A recent hearing before the United Nations’ expert panel on racism, Australia’s ambassador in Geneva stated that Australia was ”one of the [...]
  • More on Canada and the MV Sun Sea
    The Star – Marmur: Our duty to welcome strangers In her book, After Such Knowledge, Eva Hoffman, who moved to Vancouver with her parents from their native Poland as a teenager and later lived in the United States before settling in Britain, has written — probably from personal experience — how the indigenous population often [...]
  • In Sri Lanka, “Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn’t.”
    The Guardian, UK – Sri Lanka is still denying civilian deaths All attempts to investigate atrocities in the Tamil Tiger conflict have been stifled, despite promises made to Ban Ki-moon During the Vietnam conflict, the US military developed some creative ways to increase the numbers of Viet Cong insurgents it claimed to have killed. “If [...]
  • SL shows duplicity in Middle East relations
    GLW – Sri Lanka: Ties with Israel expose duplicity On July 21, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published an interview with Donald Perera, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to Israel. Perera, the former Sri Lankan Air Force commander and Chief of Defence Staff, thanked Israel profusely for its support in the fight against the Liberation Tigers of [...]