Sri Lanka’s Minority Outreach Holds Risks Before Vote
Colombo’s contentious move to gain support among Tamil diaspora stands to hurt government’s support among Sinhalese
A recently resettled Tamil woman this week walked on land the government released back to its owners in April in the remote Sri Lankan village of Thillipali. PHOTO: BUDDHIKA WEERASINGHE/GETTY IMAGES
By UDITHA JAYASINGHE-Aug. 12, 2015
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka—Sri Lanka’s government has been reaching out to the country’s influential Tamil diaspora with the aim of building minority support and boosting its international standing. But the contentious strategy holds risks for the government’s survival ahead of parliamentary elections next week.
