Sri Lankan Tamils on hunger strike in Oslo

Youth participants of the demonstration fasting in front of State building on Wednesday in Oslo, Norway. Photo: www.tamilnet.com

On April 8 about 20 Sri Lankan Tamils held a hunger strike outside Norway’s government offices in Oslo, which they had blocked for the second straight day. Hundreds of Norwegian Tamils urging Norwegian government to act as mediator in the Sri Lankan conflict, led to a traffic halt in downtown Oslo on April 7. The police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Norwegian television showed the hunger strikers camping out under tents raised in front of the office of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who is currently on easter holiday. “Norway has let us down,” the Tamils shouted.

The demonstrators demanded to meet with a senior government official and urged Norway to call an emergency meeting of Sri Lanka’s aid donors to bring an end to the government’s offensive against a rebel holdout in the northeastern part of the island.

State Secretary Raymond Johansen spoke to the demonstrators, who had handed a written appeal to a Norwegian government representative demanding an immediate ceasefire in Sri Lanka. Johansen said it is important for Norway to help finding a solution to the conflict in Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka conflict has left more than 70,000 people dead, writes Hindustantimes.com.