The Tamil diaspora in Europe is to charter a ship and set sail from London to the war zone in Sri Lanka. Tamil people in Vanni are facing an ever worsening plight for their very existence. The Tamil diaspora in Europe is preparing to charter a ship, load urgently needed goods and set sail from London to Vanni on a Mercy Mission.

Details posted at the coordinating committee’s website vannimission.org states that the ship with doctors, celebrities & media on board is expected to set sail on 26 March 2009 to reach international waters near shores of Vanni, north of Sri Lanka on 14 April 2009.

Their statement says:

“In the face of abandonment of our Tamil brethren in Vanni by the International Community and humanitarian organisations, the good ship Vanangaman is set to sail from Britain to the Tamil homeland with relief supplies.

While on the one hand relentlessly bombing and shelling civilian targets in the Tamil homeland, the Sri Lankan government on the other hand is using food and medical supplies as weapons in its Genocide of Tamils.

Operation Vananga-Man is the biggest and unified response to an emergency by the British Tamil Diaspora, since the post Tsunami response of December 2004.

Several collection centres have been set up in and around London to receive food, medicine, other emergency relief supplies and donations. Several UK parliamentarians, local government representatives of all parties, school and university staff, doctors, businessmen, media personnel, general public, both Tamil and non-Tamil, visited these collection centres and made their contributions with enthusiasm. They expressed their total support to the Coordinating Committee of Vananga-Man and condemned Sri Lanka for its barbarism and the International Community for its inaction.

Rt. Hon. Sadiq Khan MP, Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Communities and Local Government, inaugurated the collection centre at Sivayogam Hall in Tooting while Mr Toby Boutle, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, opened the centre at London Sri Selvavinayagar Temple, Ilford.

At the East Ham launch event, Mr Neal Pearce, Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Mrs Neal Pearce, Mr Sheik, Conservative Councillor for Hackney, Mr Akram, President Conservative Party East Ham, and Mr Graham National, Liberal Democrats spokesperson, took part.

At event in Ilford, opposition party, Mr Lee Scott MP for Ilford North and Cllr Alan Edward Weinberg, Conservative Leader of Redbridge Council, also took part.”

More on Socialist Resistance support for the Tamil struggle here and here.

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