Tamil Canadians protest in solidarity with Tamils in the North East Sri Lanka

For Immediate Release

November 11, 2013

Tamil Canadians protest in solidarity with Tamils in the North East Sri Lanka

Despite important leaders from countries like Canada and India not attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the meeting will unfortunately proceed in Colombo, Sri Lanka from November 15-17, 2013.

The Tamil people in the North East of Sri Lanka have voted by an overwhelming majority, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) as their political voice. The TNA has announced protests in Sri Lanka during CHOGM to highlight the many issues faced by Tamils in Sri Lanka.

In conjunction with the protests of people within Sri Lanka against CHOGM, efforts are also underway in many other countries to raise concerns about (1) Land grabs by the army of historically Tamil lands, (2) the continued large presence of Sri Lankan army personnel in the North-East under the guise of security – where in actual fact it is to grab traditional Tamil land and settle Sinhalese families, (3) continued sexual harassment against women in the North and East provinces, (4) A need for an international inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the final stages of the war.

The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) and many other organizations are coming together to organize a large joint protest in Toronto, prior to CHOGM, to highlight ongoing human rights violations in Sri Lanka:

Date: Thursday, November 14, 2013
Time: 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Venue: in front of Sri Lankan Consulate in Toronto 36 Eglinton Ave. West, Toronto (Intersection Eglinton & Yonge)

For media inquiries and interviews please contact:

Mr. David Pooplapillai – 905-781-7034, National Spokesperson, CTC. Canadian Tamil Congress Head Office: 416-240-0078