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Motion · S6M-19300 · 9 Oct 2025

Recognition of the Tamil Genocide and Support for Self-determination

Lodged by Bill Kidd Standard Motion 19 supporters

The motion

That the Parliament recognises the reported mass atrocities committed against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, particularly during the final stages of the armed conflict in May 2009, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 70,000 to 146,000 Tamil civilians, as documented by the UN and international human rights organisations; acknowledges the findings of the UN panel of experts' report on accountability in Sri Lanka in 2011, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) in 2015, and successive UN Human Rights Council resolutions highlighting credible allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and systemic persecution against Tamils; notes the continuing calls from the Tamil diaspora and civil society for an international investigation into the genocide and for recognition of the Tamil people’s right to determine their political future through a referendum, and calls on the UK Government to advocate at the UN for a UN-monitored referendum on Tamil self-determination in the north-east of Sri Lanka, in line with international legal standards and past UN resolutions recognising peoples’ rights to self-determination in post-conflict contexts.

Supporters (19)

Source: the Scottish Parliament motions and amendments record.