The war in Sri Lanka spanned over three decades and reached its bloody conclusion in May 2009. Both the UN Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka and a U.K. film entitled Sri Lanka's Killing Fields agreed that the Sri Lankan Armed Forces committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. Thousands of men, women and children were killed throughout northern Sri Lanka during the last phase of the war.

The camera pans across a host of hands thrust through a gate and focuses on a young girl. The deep sadness etched in her face shows the despair felt by thousands of Tamil civilians caught up in the tail end of the 30-year war fought between the government of Sri Lanka armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Filmed by United Nations staffer, Benjamin Dix, it showcases the anguish of civilians who congregated outside the UN compound in Northern Sri Lanka as UN officers left the area following a communiqué stating the Sri Lankan government could not guarantee their safety as its forces advanced into LTTE-held land.

Please join us for a candlelight vigil at the Burnaby Youth Detention Centre.

Support the release of Tamil refugees from Canadian internment and welcome them home. Write to your MP and PM Stephen Harper pm@pm.gc.ca

For more information, please, see the flyer and an article (pasted below) by award-winning writer Al Pope “Harper and the refugees: none is too many.”

Nothing riles up Canadian sensitivities more than someone jumping a line. Jason Kenney knew this when he introduced Bill C-49 in response to the arrival of two boat loads of Tamils on Canadian shores in the last year.

The Conservative minister of immigration tabled the human smuggling bill in October in order to tighten Canada's anti-smuggling laws and deter what his party calls abuse of the immigration system. Yet critics say the bill is flawed because it treats refugee claimants as criminals and does little to actually stop smugglers.