The Tamil Information Centre has spent decades campaigning for an end to UK arms sales to Sri Lanka. In 1986, we published Mayan Vije's landmark report, Militarization in Sri Lanka. Her report was fully updated in 2017 and in recent years our volunteers have met with dozens of MPs, including Ministers, from across the UK. As a result of our efforts, 33 MPs signed an Early Day Motion in July 2018 calling for an end to these arms sales.

However, the deadly trade continues. At least £88 million worth of weapons have been licensed for export from Britain to Sri Lanka since 2008. In 2020 alone, the UK government approved £2 million worth of arms exports to Sri Lanka, according to official figures. These export licenses include components for military helicopters - aircraft which have a long history of killing Tamil civilians.