Tamil Disappearances

Thamil families are asking the Sri Lankan government where their children are, who disappeared during the final ethnic cleansings of the Sri Lankan government in 2009. There has been no response from the Sri Lankan government.

For the past six years, they have been continuously protesting in the city of Kilinochi where they continue to ask the government where their missing children are. On February 21, 2023, they marched through the streets carrying black flags as a sign of mourning amid heavy restrictions by the Sri Lankan police. It has been 7 years since an Office of Missing Persons (OMP) was opened to investigate these cases and not a single fair trial has been conducted.

No solution is offered. These recipients have three important demands.

Since the beginning of their protests, the families of the disappeared have maintained three key demands:

1. Release a list of surrendees from the final phase of the armed conflict.

2. Release the yearly lists of detainees under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) since 1978;

3. Investigate and release the list of all past and present secret detention centres.

Although the families have been subjected to intimidation, surveillance and even violence by the state's forces, they have been relentless in campaigning for justice.

Six years have passed since the protests began in Kilinochchi but the Sri Lankan state have failed to provide any answers on the fate of their relatives.

The international community condemns Sri Lanka's terrorism. Give us an answer to where our children are to the relatives looking for them. Many of these relatives are dying one by one, so please give us a voice. Who will sympathize with our plight?