COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: A Tamil opposition lawmaker pressed the government in Parliament on Tuesday over the pay and promotion grievances of Sri Lanka’s development officers, whose unions have called a nationwide sick-leave strike for Nov. 9. “Must development officers remain in the same post until they die? Is there no promotion?” asked Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, a member of Parliament for Batticaloa District from the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi. Chandana Abeyratne, the minister of public administ

BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka, Nov. 3 — Dr. Gunasingam Sugunan, director of Kalmunai North Base Hospital, has been appointed to head Batticaloa Teaching Hospital, weeks after Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission found that the Kalmunai hospital administration had violated the rights of six Muslim women healthcare assistants in a dispute over their religious attire. Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa handed Sugunan his appointment letter at the Ministry of Health in Colombo on Monday. Health Ministry

Jaffna, 3 November 2026: Most migrants living in Britain on work visas, including Sri Lankans, will have to wait 10 years instead of five before they can apply for permanent residence. The British government confirmed on Monday that its new “earned settlement” model will apply to people already in the country. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set out the final policy in a statement to the House of Commons on 2 November. On the same day, the Home Office published its response to last year’s public

BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka's Terrorism Investigation Division has ordered Tharmalingam Suresh, the national organiser of the Tamil National People's Front, to come to Colombo for questioning about a photograph posted on his Facebook account. Officers from the division went to Mr. Suresh's home in Batticaloa at about 12:45 p.m. on Sunday and handed the summons to family members who were there, according to the party. The order is handwritten in Tamil on a standard Sri Lanka Police message