FGTO strongly believes that Resolution H.Res.1230 meets Tamil aspirations, and we thank the congress members for introducing it.
Representative Wiley Nickel introduced House Resolution 1230 on May 15, 2024, urging the United States and the international community to advocate for and protect the political rights of the Eelam Tamil people and work towards an independence referendum. Tamil Americans and Tamils around the world are hopeful that this resolution will finally enable Eelam Tamils to govern their ancestral land, Tamil Eelam, without fear of genocide.
In 2018, the Northern Provincial Council of Sri Lanka adopted a resolution calling for a United Nations-monitored referendum in the northeastern region of the island to support the development of a permanent political solution. Additionally, on March 27, 2013, the Tamil Nadu State Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to conduct a referendum among Eezham Tamils on the island and in the diaspora on the question of a separate Eelam.
In 2009, over 200,000 Tamil diaspora members around the world democratically voted in favor of reiterating the 1977 Tamil mandate, which called for the creation of an independent state of Tamil Eelam. Since then, Tamils have not abandoned this aspiration. Historically, Tamils governed the land of Tamil Eelam before European colonization and have never surrendered their sovereignty to Sri Lanka.
Forcibly maintaining the unitary state after improper decolonization has led to the genocide of Eelam Tamils. The failure to recognize Sri Lanka’s genocide and state terrorism has resulted in continuous human rights violations and failures in accountability. Tamils have lived in the region for over 2,500 years continuously. At no time during these colonial changes did the Tamil people consent to the occupation of their land by any foreign power through a consensual treaty or democratic agreement.
Between 1990 and 2002, Tamils governed their traditional territory and engaged in internationally facilitated peace talks. An interim solution proposal (ISGA) was submitted in 2004 through the peace process facilitator. Due to geopolitics, the self-governing territory of Tamil Eelam was destroyed, and genocide was committed by Sri Lanka in May 2009. This led to increased Chinese influence in the southern part of the island. The Sri Lankan state continued land grabs and genocide against Tamils and went bankrupt in 2021.
A strong Tamil diaspora continues to demand justice for the crimes of genocide committed by Sri Lanka and seeks a just political solution based on Tamil self-determination. FGTO strongly believes that Resolution H.Res.1230 meets Tamil aspirations, and we thank the congress members for introducing it. We also encourage other congress members to support the resolution. Furthermore, we urge the United States to swiftly move towards the implementation of this resolution, thereby paving the way for a brighter, more inclusive future for all.
Federation of Global Tamil Organizations (FGTO) – https://fgto.org/
- H.Res. 1230:…ensuring nonrecurrence of past violence, including the Tamil Genocide, by supporting the right to self-determination of Eelam Tamil people and their call for an independence referendum for a lasting peaceful resolution.” https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-resolution/1230/text
- “2009–2010 Tamil Eelam independence referendums” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%932010_Tamil_Eelam_independence_referendums
- “List of recent consensus in Tamil Diaspora and Eelam” https://tamilconferences.org/consensus/
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