British Tamils remember Mullivaikal massacre in London and Glasgow

British Tamils marched through London in remembrance of Tamils in the massacres in Mullivaikal at the end of the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009.

Photographs: Tamil Guardian

Convening in front of the residence of the British prime minister David Cameron, Tamils paid respect to the thousands that died at the hands of the Sri Lankan state.

Following a march from Embankment to Number 10 Downing Street, the remembrance event commenced with doctors that worked in the No Fire Zone lighting a flame in memory of the thousands of Tamil lives lost at the end of the armed ethnic conflict.

Several British MPs joined the Tamil community in remembrance of the Tamil lives and expressed solidarity with the Tamil pursuit towards accountability and a political solution.

The recently elected MP for Ilford North Wes Streeting speaking to crowds that amassed to over a thousand pledged to work to ensure that pressure was kept on Sri Lanka and international institutions to help deliver justice for the massacres in Mullivaikal.

The MPs for Enfield North and Mitcham and Morden Joan Ryan and Siobhain Mcdonagh, in a joint statement, pledged to push for international targeted sanctions if the new Sri Lanka government failed to comply with the United Nations Human Rights Council investigation in to mass atrocities.

Ms Ryan added that justice should also include an investigation into the genocide of the Tamil people.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Carshalton and Wallington pledged to support work towards jsutice and accountability for the Tamil people.

The Conservative MP for Kingston and Surbiton James Berry, reiterated his party’s commitment to ensuring that justice for the mass atrocities in Sri Lanka was served and that the UN investigation led to prosecutions.

Watford’s MP Richard Harrington expressed his commitment to ensuring that awareness about the genocide committed against the Tamil people.

Medical doctors that worked in the No Fire Zone including Dr Varatharajah outlined crimes that were committed against Tamils in the No Fire Zone in May 2009.

The event ended with an audio clip of the Northern Provincial Council Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran’s remembrance speech played to the crowd gathered in remembrance.

The event, organised by the British Tamils Forum, was also used as a platform to launch a new campaign seeking truth about the disappeared Tamils in Sri Lanka, entitled “Are they alive?”