Returning Home: The Refugee’s Journey Amid Global Conflict June 22, 2025 Deportation of Afghan refugees Al Jazeera "INSIDE STORY" July 06,2025 "For decades, tens of thousands of Afghans who have fled war and poverty and sought a better future have crossed into neighbouring Iran. Tehran has largely been lenient towards the community. But in recent years, Iranians seem to have grown tired of hosting them, and sentiment towards foreign nationals has hardened...." The Hidden Current in a Tidal Wave As of 2024 , more than 123 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide—yet something remarkable is happening. UNHCR reports that nearly 1.1 million refugees voluntarily returned to their home countries last year, reversing a decade-long trend of relentless outflows. From Afghan families leaving Iran to Syrian refugees heading back across once-forbidding borders, “home” is calling once again. History Has Seen This Before After WWII, millions of displaced perso...

Empowering Tamil human rights defenders, civil society, and victims’ groups to engage directly with UN human rights mechanisms The purpose The purpose of this article is to examine the significant barriers Tamil war victims in Sri Lanka faced in communicating with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during his June 2025 visit. Despite the historic nature of the visit and the critical opportunity it offered for Tamil survivors to present their long-standing grievances—including enforced disappearances, militarization, and impunity for wartime atrocities—their voices were marginalized due to logistical limitations, surveillance and intimidation, lack of direct engagement, and broader institutional shortcomings. This report aims to highlight those challenges and underscore the urgent need for survivor-centred dialogue and international accountability. Introduction In June 2025, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk paid an offici...

Executive Summary: Fire to Silence Tracing the Arc from  Black July  to Semmani This executive summary of “Fire to Silence" outlines how Sri Lanka’s anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983 ignited a cycle of violence and impunity, tracing the enduring impact of these events up to the recent discovery of a mass grave in 2025. The article highlights persistent patterns of atrocity, denial, and memory in Tamil regions, examines obstacles to justice, and proposes steps toward accountability and reconciliation. Historical Context: Black July 1983  The article begins with the Black July pogrom of 1983 as a pivotal starting point. In late July 1983, mobs organized by Sinhala nationalist elements attacked Tamil civilians across Sri Lanka, killing thousands and burning Tamil homes and businesses. This outbreak of ethnic violence, backed or abetted by elements within the government, marked a brutal ignition of the country’s Armed conflicts. Black July ’s legacy set the stage for ...

மக்கள் செயல் இயக்கத்தின் கோரிக்கை  June 22, 2025 Brampton, canada.

Solidarity Statement for the Chemmani Vigil — “Anaiya Vilakku” We stand in unwavering solidarity with the families of the disappeared, the youth of Makkal Seyal , and all who gather in Chemmani from June 23 to 25, holding vigil under the unquenchable lamp. This peaceful protest is not merely a cry for justice—it is an act of remembrance, resistance, and deep moral clarity. We echo the demands for the exhumation of Chemmani's mass graves under international supervision . The truth buried in that soil belongs not only to the families who have waited decades—it belongs to the world. SIGN THE PETITION: We honour the courage of those who carry photographs of their loved ones in trembling hands. We recognize the urgency with which survivors and activists refuse to let history be rewritten or forgotten. And we commend the youth who light the way forward with art, poetry, and sacrifice. As the UN Human Rights Chief visits the region, we urge the international community to listen—not only w...

Tamils CanNot Rely on Sri Lanka’s Elusive Promises Any Longer “They’re trampling on our graves with their boots,” lamented a Tamil woman named Kavitha, standing in ankle-deep mud at a former cemetery in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. The cemetery, where her brother and other fallen Tamil rebels were once laid to rest, has long been bulldozed, replaced by a sprawling military base. Scenes like this capture the anguish and betrayal felt by Sri Lanka’s Tamil community , who years after the civil war’s end, still face militarization, discrimination, and broken promises at the hands of the state. For decades, successive Sri Lankan governments have pledged reconciliation, justice, and equality for Tamils, only to renege repeatedly once international pressure waned. These hollow assurances – often given to "Delay or seek to gain support internationally" – have led to a pattern of deceit so routine that many observers label it “Ranil’s Fox Tactics" , denoting the cunning, s...