The Sri Lankan police expel more than 400 Tamils from Colombo to the North, arguing that the order is part of security controls. The raids are condemned internationally. The Supreme Court later orders the expulsions to stop following a fundamental rights petition.
The operation commenced in the early hours of the morning, with police and army officers visiting various lodges occupied predominantly by Tamils in Colombo and forcibly evicting them from their lodgings. It was reported that people were given less than half an hour to pack all their belongings and board buses. The evictions were directly attributed to the statement made by the IGP on 1 June 2007, claiming that Tamil people cannot remain in Colombo without a valid reason.
Sources
Ethnic cleansing claim after police move Tamils at gunpoint, The Guardian, 7 June 2007; Colombo police swoop on Tamil visitors from North-East, Hindustan Times, 7 June 2007; Sri Lankan government told to stop Tamil expulsions, Radio Netherlands, 8 June 2007.
Quotations
“Experience in the past 10 years shows that LTTE operatives use the lodges in the city to stay and plan out terrorist strikes,” Keheliya Rambukwella, Government spokesman.
“Humiliation of this magnitude ultimately points at a policy of gradual eviction of Tamils from Colombo,’ Mano Ganesan, parliamentarian and head of Civil Monitoring Commission.
“There is a sense that any Tamil can be targeted … This could escalate out of control,” Jehan Pereira, National Peace Council.
Related event
5 May 2008
