Sri Lanka during the war years bore the brunt of the global phenomenon of the growth and proliferation of the so-called Non-Government Organisations (NGOs). The secessionist war provided the opportunity for international NGOs to establish themselves in the country and to forcefully intervene in national affairs under the guise of humanitarian and anti-corruption activities and purported rural development projects.
The Foreign Ministers of Sri Lanka and Australia launched the Sri Lanka-Australia Joint Working Group (JWG) on People Smuggling and Transnational Crime at the inaugural meeting of the JWG held yesterday at the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development.
2066 Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . K1J 6G1
19 December 2012
Rathika Sitsabaiesan, MP, NDP Member for Scarborough-Rouge River,
House of Commons, Ottawa.
Dear Rathika:
In your Statement of the arrest of students in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, you said: “Recently the Sri Lankan government arrested and detained students without cause following a silent protest after security forces broke up a lamp lighting ceremony at a woman’s hostel at Jaffna University. The students, protesting against the lack of freedom of expression, were attacked and beaten by officers, with at least 20 undergraduate students suffering from injuries.”
