Tamil Justice

Mercy Mission is pleased that the MV Captain Ali berthed at Chennai Port at 19:25 (Indian Time) on 2 July 2009 and unloading of the humanitarian relief commenced at 07:00 on 3 July. The unloading is expected to take 36 hours as the Indian Customs is checking each pallet with metal detectors and sniffer dogs. Persons on board have stated that the following have boarded and inspected the crew and/or cargo: Customs, ‘Intelligence’, Immigration, Police, and the ‘Bomb Squad’.

After customs clearance the relief will be handed over to the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) who will in turn send it on to Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS) for distribution to the internment camps in the North of the Island.

Read full press release here.

Visit official Mercy Mission website - www.vannimission.org

Sunday 28 June: Still awaiting permission from Port authorities in to unload in Chennai
NEW videos from the MERCY MISSION ship:
Click here for Uthayan interview [8am 25 June]
Click here for Kristjan interview [8am 25 June]
Click here to read official press release by Mercy Mission team here.

With great relief and joy, we informed you a few days ago of the news that Sri Lanka had agreed to allow the Mercy Mission to off-load its contents (food, aid and relief material sent by Tamil diaspora to their loved ones in the Vanni).
However, we have been informed that
“As of Friday evening (26 June 2009) Mercy Mission has yet to be formally notified of the 24 June decision and statement by the Indian and Sri Lankan governments. There has also not been ANY movement at the ground level and the MV Captain Ali remains anchored five (5) miles off the Port of Chennai.

The situation on the ship is now critical. The crew and passengers have been onboard for 51 days without respite and in very harsh, stressful conditions. The passengers, Uthayanan Thavarajasingam and Kristjan Gudmundsson have formally requested that the authorities allow them to disembark and to take the next flight to London and Iceland.”
Click here to read official press release by Mercy Mission team here.

Reuters – Sri Lanka allows Tamil aid ship to dock, says India

Hindustan Times – Sri Lanka agrees to allow relief ship

Sri Lanka has agreed to allow a ship to off-load its contents, relief material sent by Tamil diaspora, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said in New Delhi on Wednesday after meeting a delegation from the island.

Krishna told reporters he had urged Sri Lanka to give permission to the relief ship as a “humanitarian gesture”.

“The Sri Lankan delegation kindly agreed to our suggestion and the ship would now be routed to Sri Lanka through the Indian Red Cross,” he said.

Times of India – India’s intervention sought to unload Tamil relief ship

Times of India – Ship moves out of Indian waters

Times of India – Lanka turns away ship carrying aid for displaced Tamils

Times Now – Stranded MV Ali’s crew pleads for help

Click here to read previous post on Mercy Mission

Reuters India – Sri Lanka turns back aid ship that entered illegally

Telegraph.co.uk – Sri Lanka rejects British Tamil aid ship

Click here to read press release

AFP – Sri Lanka turns back Tamil aid ship

Hindustan Times – Sri Lanka turns back Tamil aid ship

UPI – Sri Lanka: No weapons on Tamil aid ship

EarthTimes – Sri Lanka turns away ship carrying aid for displaced Tamils

BBC – Sri Lanka navy confirms aid cargo

AFP – SLanka seizes ship with supplies for war-hit civilians

Sri Lanka’s navy Thursday seized a foreign-owned ship loaded with medical, food and other supplies for war-hit civilians, saying the vessel had entered its territorial waters illegally.

The supplies, arranged by supporters of the Tamil rebel cause, were loaded onto a ship in the English port of Ipswich in April — just weeks before the government declared victory in the ethnic conflict, a navy spokesman said.

“We have seized the vessel and we are bringing it ashore now,” Captain D.K. Dassanayake said, adding the crew offered no resistance when the navy boarded the vessel 140 kilometres (87 miles) west of Sri Lanka.
The ship, the Captain Ali, was carrying hundreds of tonnes of food, medicine and other supplies for Tamil civilians caught up in the decades-long conflict, he said.

Click here to read article

Independent – Sri Lanka Navy halts UK Tamils’ aid

eTaiwan – Sri Lanka stops aid ship sent by overseas Tamils

Hindu – Cargo vessel seized off Colombo waters

ABC Online – Sri Lankan navy seizes Tamil supply ship

Click here to read previous posts on the Vanni Mission