With the 2024 UK General Election set to take place on July 4, more British Tamils than ever before have been named as candidates with a range of Britain’s political parties. The Tamil Guardian interviewed the candidates who are hoping to become one of the UK’s first-ever British Tamil parliamentarians.
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Uma Kumaran, Labour Party
Candidate for Stratford and Bow
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, your journey into politics and the Labour Party. Why do you want to be the next MP for your constituency?
I was born in East London, it’s where my parents first lived when they came to the UK - fleeing Sri Lanka’s armed conflict. I studied in Queen Mary, I have lived in Stratford and in Bow - and it’s incredible to think of the journey and history that has taken me from being a local student, to hopefully being the local MP.
I’ve worked in the NHS, within politics, for the current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, and also most recently as Director of Diplomatic Relations for a global climate organisation. I worked closely with the United Nations, global philanthropists, scientists and climate leaders to push for bolder climate action around the world. Every job for me has always been with purpose - to be an activist, to make a difference.
My Labour values run deep in my blood, through my family and my parents. My grandad was one of Jaffna’s first Trade Unionists - his dad, my great-granddad, kicked him out of the house temporarily for joining the front of a trade union picket line calling for rights for sanitation workers. He was furious, I am told. It wasn't the done thing in respectable families. Both my grandfathers were civil servants and always had a sense of public service. This runs throughout my family.
We are now dispersed in London, the United States and Australia.
I’m a product of our history. I was born here but by fate. My parents fled the riots in the 80’s. They have been here for over 40 years but the stories they have told me of running for their lives, hiding, not knowing if each other, their families and friends were alive, of seeing death and devastation will stay with me forever.
Britain offered them safe refuge. Tamils fleeing the initial pogroms and violence were given amnesty in the UK and also in Canada. It was a Labour MP who took up their casework and helped them with their immigration status in the 80’s.
The war changed the course of my parents' lives - so many millions of our lives. We are a displaced people, in every corner of our planet. I’m feeling it even more acutely at the moment. My ammamma passed away earlier this month. I wasn’t able to get to Australia in time for her funeral and then back for the campaign. I joined her funeral virtually, through the early hours of the morning. I had press interviews a few hours later - the reality of this life - of why we are separated by oceans feels all the more poignant to me.
But I know she was so proud - as are my parents, my husband and our entire family. And so too our community, I have felt a real outpouring of love and support, it has been hugely humbling.
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Kumaran with Pope Francis earlier this year.
Q: To date, very few British Tamils have run for office - why do you think that is?
Look, politics is never the easiest of things to get involved with. We are a far more politically active community than most - and it shows - we engage cross-party and it’s great to see, that even if I have completely different political opinions, there Tamil are candidates standing for all parties. (There is one party I take exception with and can’t believe a Tamil-origin candidate is standing on their platform of immigrant-bashing, but I’ll save that discussion for another time.)
Our families don't necessarily see politics as a ‘career’ or a mainstream path to get involved with but the view is changing for the better - I really do encourage the next generation to get involved.
Representation matters. We need more women, people from working-class backgrounds, ethnic minorities, and LGBTQ+, persons overall. A diversity of lived experiences and backgrounds can bring so much to public life.
Tamils have contributed immensely to British life, in our NHS, to our economy, in business, arts & culture and our public services. And we live in every corner of Britain, from Scotland to Wales, in London and beyond. I campaigned in Clacton recently, to help my friend Jovan, who is standing against Nigel Farage - and I was in total amazement to meet a Tamil lady there - we had a lovely conversation going from English to Tamil, and she was delighted.
We have taken our voices to parliament many times, calling for justice, lobbying our MPs, and joining events or protests. But we have never had a voice on those historic green benches. It is my ambition to change that. First and foremost to be a voice for the community in Stratford and Bow - but a voice who also happens to be a British Tamil and proud.
Q: There are lots of issues the Tamils care about, let’s touch on a few of them. Several UN reports and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer have called for Sri Lanka to be referred to the International Criminal Court. What steps would you take to ensure Sri Lanka is taken to the ICC?
It’s genuinely unbelievable that to date, no one has been held accountable for the war crimes that took place in the run-up to and during May 2009 in Sri Lanka.
We will never forget the devastation, the loss of life, loss of land. Those images of hundreds of thousands of our people sheltering in the sand, in the narrowest of strips of land, the deliberate shelling of hospitals and Red Cross sites, the so-called “no fire zone”. And the torture and sexual violence they subject Tamil men and women to - we will never forget.
And after that, the aftermath, a whole generation growing up without families, men, women and children with the mental and physical scars of war.
I don’t like to recall it in such detail, but we need to know our history.
It’s frustrating that, as Sri Lanka is not a party to the Rome statute or signed up to ICC - the only way we can bring about justice is for them to be referred through the UN Security Council.
In 2009, whilst the massacres were taking place, Labour’s then-foreign secretary David Miliband tried to raise this at the UN Security Council. I remember this vividly. I was part of a group of Tamils who went to meet with and raise this directly with [then Prime Minister] Gordon Brown.
Labour’s foreign secretary was very clear at the time, he said he believes “very, very strongly that the civilian situation in the North East of Sri Lanka merits the attention of the United Nations at all levels.”
It’s been 15 painful years since then. Labour has never stopped advocating for this. We have dozens of MPs on record speaking up for their constituents and fighting for justice for Tamils.
Labour's current Shadow Foreign Minister, David Lammy, has called on the Conservative UK government to “stand with the Tamils and heed the recommendations of the UN High Commissioner to refer the perpetrators of the atrocities to the International Criminal Court”.
Just this year, Keir Starmer - Labour’s leader, and hopefully our next Prime Minister - has said that we must bring the perpetrators of atrocities to justice.
Labour has been clear on our commitment to work towards lasting peace, reconciliation and a long-lasting political solution for the Tamil people.
Labour has already committed to supporting and ensuring that Tamils get the accountability that we deserve, and that this will form part of the key foreign policy priorities should there be a Labour government.
If I am elected on the 4 July, I will actively engage with international organisations such as the United Nations, particularly the UN Human Rights Council, and NGOs.
People must be held to account through the International Criminal Court - my view on what’s happening now in Palestine, and getting justice for those suffering and for the lives lost - is the same.
We must amplify our call for justice on a global stage. I will advocate for diplomatic efforts that encourage other countries to support the referral of Sri Lanka to the ICC.
I have been advocating internally to the Labour Party on this for the past 15 years - I won’t stop now.
Labour has some incredible MPs who have been our voice on this for over a decade, standing shoulder to shoulder with their Tamil constituents including my neighbouring MP East Ham’s Stephen Timms, Harrow West’s Gareth Thomas, Hayes and Harlington’s John McDonnell, Siobhan McDonagh in Mitchem and Morden, Wes Streeting in Ilford North. Brent’s Dawn Butler and Barry Gardiner, Ealing’s James Murray. Catherine West in Hornsey and Wood Green, and of course David Lammy in Tottenham - who will make the most dedicated and tireless Foreign Secretary - there’s so many more, I can’t list them all for space here, and now I think I may have forgotten to name some! But I hope this makes it clear - there are a lot of Labour members of parliament who have advocated for us.
By the way - It would be remiss of me not to mention the support of dedicated constituency MPs who are not in my party, but who also have worked hard for Tamils.
We have some incredible Labour candidates throughout London and the country, who I know, if elected, will be strong voices for the Tamil community in the UK.
If I am elected on the 4 July, I will push at every level for Tamils to get the justice that we have been denied for so long - I know I will have Labour’s parliamentary party with me in calling for justice.
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Kumaran meeting with Gordon Brown in 2009.
Q: Canada’s parliament has recognised May 18 as Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day. How would you push for recognition of the Tamil genocide in the UK?
I think that the recognition of Tamil genocide should be a core aim of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Tamils. By uniting efforts across party lines, MPs can present a more compelling case to the government and increase the chances of achieving recognition.
I know this is a very important issue for the Tamil community and that the Canadian Parliament has chosen to recognise that, similar to how parliament here passed a motion in 2021 concerning the Uyghur people. I feel that it is something that should definitely be explored with regard to the Tamil genocide.
For wider formal recognition that what happened was a genocide, it needs to be proven in international courts, such as the ICC, which we hope Sri Lanka will be referred to and a determination made.
Q: Sri Lankan war criminals are yet to be sanctioned in the UK, but have been in Canada and the United States. What steps would you take to ensure that they are?
David Lammy addressed this issue to a Tamil audience in 2022, and I want to echo his words. He spoke of how he “marched for sanctions on apartheid South Africa” and is “demanding sanctions be imposed on Sri Lankan war criminals".
Last week, my colleague Catherine West highlighted at the British Tamil hustings that this is an area where action could be taken quickly.
The UK cannot be a haven for war criminals. We need an assessment of sanctions against those accused of war crimes. I firmly believe that those responsible should be held to account.
Q: In the long run, tackling the underlying issues on the island are key. Senior British leaders have spoken on Tamil self-determination in the past. How would you go about ensuring that the right to self-determination is exercised? Last month, a US Congress resolution, which has support from both Republicans and Democrats, was introduced calling for a peaceful and democratic solution through an independence referendum. Would you support a similar push for that from the UK?
I wholeheartedly support a similar push from the UK for a peaceful and democratic solution through a referendum. We have a different political system here from the resolutions system in the US Congress, but I would support efforts to explore how this may be possible in the UK.
Q: Looking domestically - Tamil asylum seekers are still facing deportation, from the UK and territories such as Diego Garcia. How would you ensure that Tamils fleeing persecution are not deported back to danger in Sri Lanka?
It’s awful. The story about Tamils being sent from Diego Garcia to Rwanda was heartbreaking. It was painful to read. This is the reality of the dehumanizing policies of the Conservative government - a Labour Government would get rid of the inhumane Rwanda scheme straight away. I’ll always push to ensure that Tamils in the UK who have a genuine asylum claim are not being sent back to danger - I know Labour MPs have long done this on behalf of their constituents.
Q: Thousands of British Tamils work in the NHS. In your opinion, what are the causes behind so many of the issues it faces and how will a Labour government fix them?
It is incredible - I heard recently that 15% of UK medical students are Tamil! I need to check this, but what a stat. Our NHS depends on people like us, people of all ethnicities to make sure that our health service keeps going. It is an incredible service, and I am so grateful to it, it saved my dad’s life when he had a heart attack over 20 years ago, but things are so different now - who knows how long we would have had to wait for an ambulance if it had happened now?
The choices and the lack of funding over the past 14 years of a Conservative Government, have led to our NHS being on its knees. I’ve heard awful stories of people waiting hours and hours for ambulances, driving themselves to hospital out of sheer desperation, medicines not being available.
We also have more people living for longer, with long-term conditions - it’s added huge pressures to the NHS and our social care services - but the solutions are there, the Government just haven't even attempted to try.
A Labour Government created the NHS, it’s a Labour Government that will fix it.
Labour’s mission is to build an NHS fit for the future. Investment alone won’t be enough to tackle the problems facing the NHS - it must go hand in hand with fundamental reform.
The NHS should also be able to prevent ill health in the first place. It must also reflect the change in the nature of disease, with a greater focus on the management of chronic, long-term conditions. And Labour will deliver a renewed drive to tackle the biggest killers; cutting the lives lost to cancer, cardiovascular disease and suicide while ensuring people live well for longer.
Labour’s plan is to:
- Cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 more appointments every week
- Double the number of cancer scanners
- A new Dentistry Rescue Plan
- 8,500 additional mental health staff
- Return of the family doctor
I’m not going to talk you through the whole thing, but our plan is incredible and our Shadow Health Minister Wes Streeting - who himself has battled cancer and has been on the receiving end of the incredible treatment our NHS has - is leading this. Have a look here.
Q: What would be your message to young British Tamils looking to get involved in politics?
Do it! It’s your right and it's your voice. If you don’t do politics, politics will do you. It’s a saying one of my friends who runs an organisation that seeks to encourage young people to get more involved in politics says to me (the organisation is called ‘My Life My Say’ - definitely look them up!). To all of us who want to be part of the change, who want to fight for what's right and fair and who want to make a difference we should live by this.
Politics doesn’t always feel like it should be for everyone, but I want to show people that there is another way, we can be the change we want to see. Young people, this next generation have been increasingly vocal about the status of human rights and their voices have added to the pressures on all politicians in the UK and around the world - and that’s the right thing.
There’s three things you could do now
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Make sure you vote on 4th July,
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Vote Labour
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Join the Labour Party and be the change you want to see.
Q: And a final message to British Tamils who will be heading to the ballot boxes on July 4th?
If you live in Stratford and Bow - join me, let’s make history, vote for me on 4th July!
It’s been 14 long years of a shambolic Tory government - they have decimated our public services, our economy - just look at your mortgage rates or your rents, our NHS on its knees, ambulance waiting times soaring, you can’t get a timely GP appointment, the list goes on.
We have a real chance to change this, and make a difference and to fix things with a Labour Government. Use your vote on 4th July to vote Labour.
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