A protest by Sri Lankan Tamils in Paris turned violent on Monday and 160 people were arrested. While they are yet to be released, another group of 300 Sri Lankan Tamils have started a 24-hour vigil at the human rights square in front of the Eiffel Tower.
The red Tamil Elam flag were hoisted along the French tricolour in Paris, and the posters depicted Indian politicians as demons, as Sri Lankan Tamils staged a protest at the Trocadero human rights square.
"I have two brothers and their eight children in Vanni. When I talk to my mother in Jaffna, she says she's voiceless. Our relatives in Colombo say we have no voice so we want to be the voice of the voiceless over there," said Thiruchchoti Thiru, member of coordination committee, Tamils in France.
Twenty seven-year-old Alfred, who hasn't heard from his brother and mother for several days now, has been on a hunger strike for the last 14 days, and is now joined by three others.
"This war should stop. They should not kill any more Tamils," said Selvakumar Alfred, member, Tamils in France.
Nearly two million Sri Lankan Tamils live outside Sri Lanka and have been a strong support base for the LTTE for many years now. They have now stepped up protests in a last ditch effort to draw the attention of the international community.
The Sri Lankan Tamils protesting the plight of their civilian families and friends in Sri Lanka now more than ever, find themselves sympathising with the LTTE.
