Jeyakumari Balendran
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Jeyakumari Balendran is a Sri Lankan Tamil woman and an activist campaigning for the families of those who disappeared while in Sri Lankan military custody.[1] Sri Lankan government forces currently have Ms Jeyakumari and her 13-year-old daughter Vipoosika in detention at an unknown location. They gained prominence during British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit to Jaffna in November, when Vipoosika’s desperate pleas for the return of her missing brother gained widespread coverage. Civil society campaigners have expressed concern for the safety of mother and daughter.[2][3][4]
Forced disappearance of son
Jeyakumari's youngest son was conscripted into the LTTE prior to the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War that was being waged in the Northern and Eastern parts of the country. Having survived the war and rejoined his family, the boy was asked to surrender to the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. Jeyakumari heeded the call of the authorities and surrendered her son, who was 15 years old at the time. He vanished while in the custody of the Lankan state, after he was photographed being ‘rehabilitated’.[5]
Since then Jeyakumari has been engaged in a peaceful struggle to discover the whereabouts not only of her son, but also of thousands of others who 'disappeared' while in the Sri Lankan military's custody. She emerged as one of the leading human rights activists in the Northern Province among thousands of widows and children who lost their husbands, fathers and loved ones during the conflict. She and Vipoosika have been prominent in campaigns to establish the whereabouts of missing people.
Demonstrations in 2013
Jeyakumari led the demonstration that greeted British Prime Minister David Cameron when he visited Jaffna in November 2013. She and Vipoosika were at the forefront of a weeping crowd that held up photographs of their missing relatives.[3]
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