Relations to Canada

• In 2006, Canada labeled the LTTE as a terrorist organization, and banned them from entering Canada. 

• Thursday, August 24th, 2006 - 2 Canadian men were arrested for supposedly buying weapons for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. The men were Ramanan Mylvaganam (29 years old) and Piratheepan Nadarajah (30 years old). Ramanan was arrested in Mississauga but was tried in a Canadian court room. Piratheepan, however, was arrested in Toronto that same night.

• May 11th, 2009 - Members of the Tamil community in Toronto protested the civil war occuring in Sri Lanka, by blocking the Gardiner Expressway (a major highway in Toronto). There was close to 1000 protestors there. 

• August 12th, 2010 - A ship that was carrying 250 Sri Lankan Tamils ( including Tamil Tiger members) made Canada fear its entrance in Vancouver. It was alarming to Canadians for a few reasons. First of all, the LTTE is banned from Canada and members are not allowed to enter Canada under any circumstances. 

Child Soldiers

Point of Views

Although the whole issue concerning the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government is very sad, many countries across the world have different views and perspectives on the tactics being used and the way in which many events are being carried out. One issue which has various perspectives is the use of child soldiers.

• The use of child soldiers by the Tamil Tiger rebel group is a very controversial issue around the world. The LTTE was known to have over 3000 child soldiers. They gained these child soldiers by either threatening their families, or abducting the children and forcing them into armed fighting. If a child tried to run away from their training camp, they would be beaten in front of all the other children and then forced to start training again. 

Pictures

Tamil Tigers

Sri Lankan soldiers

Refugees

Sri Lankan Civil War

The Sri Lankan Civil War, also known as the Eelam War, was a violent fight between the rebel Tamils and the Sri Lanka government (particularly their military). The main reason they were fighting, was because Tamil seperationists (LTTE) wanted their own independent Tamil Eelam state.  This brutal war started on July 13th, 1983, and it ended in May of 2009 when the Tamil Tigers were defeated by the Sri Lankan military. Through out the course of this war, 4 peace talks were negotiated, but all failed. Many friece confrontations also occured between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army. Through out the course of almost 30 years if fighting and violence, it is estimated that 80,000 to 100,000 people were killed in this war. Unfortunately, the majority of the people killed were innocent people, who deserved to live.

Protest of Tamils - trying to raise awareness of the genocide.

Sri Lankan Civil War Map

The rust coloured section shows the land that the LTTE wanted their own individual state. The Sri Lankan Civil War was mostly a land issue, as shown above. 

Colonel Soosai

Colonel Soosai was born October 16th, 1963, under the name of Thillaiyampalam Sivanesan. In 1981 he joined the Tamil Tigers and became the leader of the Sea Tigers in 1984. On May 18th, 2009, Colonel Soosai was hit by a rocket while sitting in a van after he took a 2 hour flight, and passed away.

Colonel Soosai